Ernakulam (Kerala): Human rights activist Jaison Cooper said that the phone leak was part of the central government's move to suppress all opposition voices and he would face the Pegasus snooping legally. Jaison Cooper, a native of Kochi, was one among the names in the list of people targetted using Israeli spy software Pegasus. Jaison Cooper told ETV Bharat that his privacy had been invaded and that legal action would be taken. Phone spying is a form of digital invasion. The central government hopes to suppress dissent at all levels in this way. Cooper also alleged that human rights activists in the Bhima Koregaon case were jailed after their laptops were spied on and evidence fabricated to facilitate their arrests.
All politicians imprisoned through this snooping should be released, Cooper demanded. Such incidents have been noted along with the evidence in many cases but have not been considered by the courts. This is a limitation in moving forward with legal action, said Cooper.
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The Pegasus phone leak is a violation of existing laws in India against the invasion of privacy. Cooper said there should be a strong public outcry over the issue and that the phones of their own ministers were spied on because they did not trust even their own ministers. Cooper, an employee of the state insurance department, was jailed for 47 days six years ago by the UAPA on charges of having links with the Maoists. He was later released on bail.
At least 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including two Union ministers, three opposition leaders, a sitting judge, 40 journalists, besides scores of business persons and activists in the country could are being allegedly targeted for hacking through the Israeli spyware sold only to government agencies, as per a media consortium's report.
The Union government, however, categorically rejected allegations of snooping using Pegasus, asserting that illegal surveillance was not possible given the checks and balances in the country's laws. It also said vested interests were making attempts made to malign Indian democracy and to disrupt the Monsoon Session of Parliament which is underway since July 19.
