What happened?
According to the results of the investigation, the Azerbaijani authorities used a spy program produced by the Israeli company NSO Group, known for developing devices for cyber-harassment, to wiretap independent journalists and activists.
In May 2021, three chief editors working with OCCRP traveled to the capital of Turkey – Ankara, the capital of Turkey and the Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who received the right to leave the country, went there with them.
Khadija Ismailova (left) and OCCRP journalist Miranda Patrucic. Photo: OCCRP
OCCRP editors told Khadija that the main purpose of their meeting is to convey important information to her. As it turned out, Ismailova’s mobile phone was intercepted by the Pegasus program. Due to its unique properties, this program allows one to pursue the owner of the phone, and secretly perform various operations on it. Pegasus can record all conversations, read the texts of SMS messages, transfer photos and videos from the phone, and, without the knowledge of its owner, take photos and videos from it. At the same time, the phone does not give its owner a single notification about the operations performed.