The consortium of journalists behind the Pegasus Project investigation into malware from the Israel-based NSO Group has won the top European Union journalism prize.
The investigation provided further evidence that it was used to spy on journalists, human rights activists and political dissidents.
The European Parliament said in a statement that the “unprecedented leak of more than 50,000 phone numbers selected for surveillance by the customers of the Israeli company NSO Group shows how this technology has been systematically abused for years”.
The list was obtained by the Paris-based journalism non-profit Forbidden Stories and the human rights group Amnesty International and shared with 16 news organisations.
Journalists were able to identify more than 1,000 individuals in 50 countries who were allegedly selected by NSO clients for potential surveillance.
They include 189 journalists, more than 600 politicians and government officials, at least 65 business executives, 85 human rights activists and several heads of state, according to The Washington Post, a consortium member.
The journalists work for organisations including The Financial Times, The Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, The Wall Street Journal and Le Monde.
The prize is named after Daphne Caruana Galizia and is a tribute to the Maltese investigative journalist who was killed in a car bomb attack four years ago.
Congratulations to the Pegasus Project for winning Parliament's journalism prize for its revelations of government spying on journalists, politicians and others. Read more about the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism → https://t.co/CKFAzPIu3J pic.twitter.com/dRwQT0wuCe
— European Parliament (@Europarl_EN) October 14, 2021
