Mexican journalists accuse govt of spying on them

MEXICO CITY:  A group of prominent journalists and activists in Mexico accused the government on Monday of spying on them, saying their phones had been hacked with Israeli spyware sold exclusively to the state.

The group said at a press conference that it has pressed charges with the attorney general’s office, accusing the government of illegally accessing private communications and other offenses.

The nine plaintiffs at the news event included journalists who have published embarrassing exposes on government corruption and activists who have investigated human rights violations by the state.

"This is an operation by the Mexican state, in which state agents -- far from doing what they should legally do -- have used our resources, our taxes, our money to commit serious abuses," said journalist Carmen Aristegui.

Aristegui, a veteran reporter, is known in Mexico for a 2014 expose revealing that President Enrique Pena Nieto’s wife had bought a $7 million Mexico City mansion from a government contractor.

She said members of her staff and her 16-year-old son were also targeted.

She is among the 76 cases the plaintiffs say they have documented of high-tech spyware being installed on their phones and those of their families and associates.

The accusation were first published in a New York Times report detailing how Pegasus was used against top human rights lawyers, journalists and anti-corruption activists in Mexico.