Andreas Schieder (Photo: European Parliament/Mathieu CUGNOT)
In a Sept. 3 evening statement for Nova.rs, Austrian member of the European Parliament Andreas Schieder said that the forensic confirmation of Pegasus spyware on the cell phones of members of Serbia’s anti-regime university student movement represents “a serious escalation” and called on the European Union to react.
Schieder stated that claims of the Serbian authorities using spyware to surveil activists and journalists have been present for some time and that, in the past, such practice was harshly condemned by the EU with repeated calls for a complete and transparent investigation.
“The fact that the presence of Pegasus software on the phones of members of the university student movement has now been forensically verified represents a serious escalation,” the MEP told the Nova online portal.
In his opinion, the situation is particularly concerning as it unfolds in an EU candidate country, ahead of snap parliamentary elections.
“A government that surveils university students, activists and political opponents cannot genuinely claim to be creating conditions for free and fair elections,” Schieder said.
The Blockading University Students movement and the SHARE Foundation announced at a press conference on Sept. 2 that the devices of at least 14 individuals in Serbia were targeted by Pegasus – a military-grade spyware program, sold exclusively to countries. This was, they said, verified by forensic experts and international organizations and represents the largest wave of such surveillance documented in Serbia so far.
The targets of the surveillance included university student and opposition activists, as well as MP Radomir Lazovic, the co-president of the Green-Left Front.
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