Press Freedom
The spyware in a Dominican journalist's phone
Forensic analysis found Pegasus infections on Nuria Piera's device. It did not establish who ordered the surveillance.
Nuria Piera's phone carried forensic traces consistent with infection by Pegasus spyware on at least three occasions between 2020 and 2021, according to analysis by Amnesty International's Security Lab. Piera is one of the Dominican Republic's best-known investigative journalists.[1]
Pegasus can turn a phone into an instrument of surveillance: messages, microphone, camera and location. For a reporter, the target is never only the device. It is every source, draft, photograph and unpublished line of inquiry held inside it.
The public evidence does not identify the operator. The Dominican State said it had not contracted NSO Group services since President Luis Abinader took office on 16 August 2020. The IACHR's Special Rapporteurship called for a complete and impartial investigation; it did not attribute the infections to a named agency.[2]
That distinction is essential. A forensic trace establishes compromise. It does not, by itself, establish who pressed the button. The unanswered questions require powers a journalist does not have: procurement records, server logs, official authorisations and sworn evidence. Until those are produced, responsibility remains unresolved — and Piera's sources remain the people who bore the risk.
Citations & source document
- [1]IACHR record — forensic findingPegasus infections found on Nuria Piera's phoneAmnesty Security Lab found traces consistent with Pegasus infections on at least three occasions.
- [2]IACHR record — attribution unresolvedThe operator remains unidentifiedThe State's denial and the absence of a finding identifying the operator.
Every document cited above is held on this site, with the key clauses, extracts and findings set out in full and a link to the document of record.
Sources
Independent reporting by Pearce Robinson. Corrections and responses may be submitted here.
