Over the past few days, excerpts of phone conversations between politicians, members of civil society and journalists in Mauritius have been leaked.. Five well-known journalists have been affected by these leaks, which indicate a widespread system of surveillance. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is concerned by this discovery and calls for an independent enquiry to identify those responsible for the wiretapping.
With the general elections taking place in two weeks, Mauritius has been shaken by a wiretapping scandal. Since 18 October, around twenty conversations involving politicians, police officers, lawyers and members of civil society have been leaked on social media. Five well-known journalists have been affected by these leaks.
While Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, the country’s prime minister, and police have claimed that the audio excerpts were manipulated using artificial intelligence, the five journalists, contacted by RSF, confirmed the authenticity of the leaked conversations. “The authorities are hiding behind the artificial intelligence argument because they are embarrassed,” says Nawaz Noorbux, news director of Radio Plus, one of the country’s leading private radio stations.
“Eavesdropping on journalists’ telephone conversations and exposing them on social media constitutes a serious threat to their safety and the protection of their sources. As Mauritius is heading into legislative elections, RSF is concerned about these leaks, which point to a system of widespread wiretapping that does not spare media professionals. The authorities cannot hide behind their artificial intelligence argument to cover up this major scandal. We call for an independent enquiry to identify those responsible for the wiretapping.”
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Sadibou Marong
Director of RSF’s Sub-Saharan Africa Desk
Nawaz Noorbux came across one of his telephone conversations with a lawyer close to the government broadcast on Facebook on 19 October. “He was calling to see if I had any more information about a case I had just published,” explains the Radio Plus news director. The lawyer had called Nawaz Noorbux on WhatsApp in August 2022, shortly after the journalist had exposed that an adviser to the Prime Minister had forged an anonymous letter.
Another WhatsApp call dating to August 2022, involving two former Radio Plus journalists, Al Khizr Ramdin and Jugdish Joypaul, was also published on social media on 19 October. “The conversation contained nothing incriminating, but this wiretapping suggests that our sources are vulnerable”, explains Al Khizr Ramdin, who is now the news director of the online media Informus.
Jugdish Joypaul left journalism to embark on a political career with the ruling party earlier this year, but he makes no secret of his indignation: “We absolutely need an independent enquiry to trace the source and identify those responsible for these recordings.” After a 35-year career in journalism, the former journalist says he has always had the impression that certain conversations were recorded. “We’ve been careful on the phone,” he adds, “particularly over the last ten years.”
Rajen Valayden, editor-in-chief of the online media Capital Media, and Murvind Beetun, an investigative journalist, are also concerned by the leaks.
