Amnesty accuses Serbia govt of targeting journalists, activists with spyware

Serbian authorities have been using sophisticated digital surveillance technology to spy on journalists and activists in the Balkan country, Amnesty International said in a new report published Monday.

According to the report -- "A Digital Prison" -- Serbian authorities have deployed spyware that "provides Serbian authorities with extensive surveillance capabilities once installed on a target's device".

The report includes testimonies of a journalist and activist who accused authorities of covertly installing spyware on their devices while in custody and during an interview with officials.

"Our investigation reveals how Serbian authorities have deployed surveillance technology and digital repression tactics as instruments of wider state control and repression directed against civil society," said Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for Europe.

The report highlights the use of the Cellebrite and NoviSpy software and forensic tools to target phones and devices belonging to members of civil society.

"NoviSpy can capture sensitive personal data from a target phone and provide capabilities to turn on a phone's microphone or camera remotely," said Amnesty, adding that "Cellebrite forensic tools are used to both unlock the phone prior to spyware infection and also allow the extraction of the data on a device".

Independent journalists and civil society groups in Serbia have long accused the government and its allies of targeting their members with defamatory statements, lawsuits and public threats.