Hungary prosecutors probe Pegasus spying claims

Hungarian prosecutors say they have opened a probe into allegations that the government used Israeli-made spyware to target hundreds of phone numbers, including those of journalists.

“The task of the investigation is to establish the facts and to determine whether and, if so, what crime has taken place,” the Budapest Regional Investigation Prosecutor’s Office says in a statement.

The probe follows several complaints “into the so-called Pegasus case, under the suspicion of the crime of gathering unauthorized secret information,” it adds.

Hungary was the only EU country listed as a potential user of the spyware in international media reports about Pegasus this week.

The spyware was allegedly used to target hundreds of subjects, including journalists, lawyers and other public figures.

Hungarian officials have dismissed the allegations, calling them “unsubstantiated.”