Ricardo Raphael

Surveillance

Ricardo Raphael was selected for surveillance with the Pegasus spyware in 2017. Forbidden Stories could not confirm the infection since he did not keep the phone he used back then.

Who is he?

Ricardo Raphael is a Mexican journalist. He hosts a political TV show called “Espiral” for Once. He also writes for the newspaper Milenio.

Raphael wrote a reference book on Elba Esther Gordillo, an expert on eduction policies who was strongly opposed to president Enrique Peña Nieto’s school reform. The book tells the story of this teacher, jailed in 2014 by Peña Nieto’s adminsitration, who became a symbol for those who opposed the reform.

In 2017, Raphael was investigating the kidnapping of Hugo Alberto Wallace. He tracked the mistakes and contradictions in the judicial investigation, which led to the arrest of six people. His book hasn’t been published yet.

At the time he was also in contact with a group of Argentine researchers who were in Mexico to look into the disappearance of 43 students in Ayotzinapa. Raphael helped them in their research. In February 2017, he published an article on the damning conclusions of their report. The journalist accused Tomas Zerón, then director of the Agency of criminal investigation (AIC), of hiding what truly happened to the 43 students. Zerón is now wanted by Interpol. He fled Mexico and is allegedly hiding in Israel.

His work

Response

Mexican authorities did not answer Forbidden Stories’ questions on the surveillance of journalists. NSO Group did not answer Forbidden Stories’ questions on specific targets but said it “will continue to investigate all credible claims of misuse and take appropriate action based on the results of these investigations.”