Daniel Nemeth, 46, is a Hungarian photographer as discreet as he is fearless. In recent years, he has made a name for himself – for lack of a face, since he shuns honors – by specializing in shots of the luxurious lifestyle of the entourage of the nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban. . We owe him in particular pictures of the holidays, on a yacht, of his foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, or those of his ex-classmate, Lorinc Meszaros, who became the richest man in Hungary.
Each time, his photos have sparked a scandal in this central European country, as they confirm that the relatives of Viktor Orban have mysteriously enriched themselves since his return to power in 2010. At the same time, these photos seem to have also made him a prime target for the Israeli surveillance software Pegasus, known to be able to suck the contents of a cell phone with complete discretion, and which the Orban government does not hesitate to make extensive use against journalists and opponents, such as revealed it, mid-July, The world and its partners of the “Pegasus Project”
On Tuesday September 21, the Hungarian investigation site Direkt36, also a member of the “Project Pegasus”, claimed that the photojournalist’s two phones were targeted at the very beginning of July. Mr. Nemeth was not on the list of more than 50,000 issues selected as targets by Pegasus and viewed by The world and its partners. But he had his devices analyzed, after our revelations, by the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, one of the leading spyware research centers, and by Amnesty International’s laboratory.
Very permissive legislation
These two centers confirmed the infiltration of his phones between the 1er and July 9. At that time, in accordance with his favorite methods, the photographer was tracking, thanks to the Internet, a private jet and a yacht known to be used by Viktor Orban and his entourage. He had then managed to locate them in Naples, Italy, where he immediately went. The photographer thought he had taken enough precautions using a second SIM card, but it was not enough. Both numbers have been targeted, but only while he was on Hungarian territory.
When contacted, the Hungarian government did not react to Direkt’s revelations36. But since the “Project Pegasus” disclosures, he just repeats that all tapping is “In accordance with the law”, which is very permissive in Hungary because it allows anyone to listen for three months, when it comes to “National security”. The Minister of the Interior and the Secretary of State responsible for approving the wiretapping were heard, Monday, September 20, by the parliamentary committee responsible for supervising the secret services. But the content of their intervention has been classified until 2050. “They did not deny that politicians and journalists were monitored”, was just able to declare, on leaving, the opposition deputy who chairs this committee.