French Media Claims 150 Yellow Vests Have Their Phones Tapped
A new report from a French magazine claims that at least 150 Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) activists have their phones tapped by the French government and are being tracked online.
The report comes from weekly political magazine Le Point, which says that French security services agents have been tracking the Yellow Vest protestors and listening to their phone conversations, building on prior similar claims by Le Canard Enchaîné, the satirical weekly which broke a scandal involving former presidential candidate Francois Fillon, France-Soir reports.
Le Point claims that intelligence services are tracking 50 activists in Paris and 100 in the rest of the country, and that the agency responsible for the tracking is the Intelligence Directorate of the Prefecture of Police of Paris (DRPP).
The magazine added that the number of requests from the DRPP to the National Intelligence Control Commission (CNCTR), an intelligence watchdog that ensures intelligence gathering techniques are up to the standard of the French internal security code, have, in their words, “multiplied.”
French Police Caught on Tape Saying to ‘Shoot’ Yellow Vests https://t.co/jfLElQwfZm
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 4, 2019
The revelation comes as the Yellow Vests’ weekly Saturday protests enter their thirteenth week, with protestors still demanding that President Emmanuel Macron introduce the policy of Citizen-Initiated Referendums (RIC) that would allow Swiss-style popular votes to enact laws, repeal laws, strip politicians of their office, and even amend the French constitution.
Popularity for the RIC concept remains high with the French public, with a recent poll showing 77 percent of French backing the policy to propose laws, 73 percent for an RIC to veto proposed laws from parliament, and 68 percent for RICs to remove politicians from office.
The claim of government spying also follows an increased level of violence by police toward protestors, with last week’s protest being centred around the number of Yellow Vests who have been seriously injured, primarily by police use of “flash-ball” ammunition, with several losing eyes and hands.
Grenade Blows Yellow Vest's Hand Apart as Anti-Macron Protests Turn Ugly https://t.co/5hC2ezJuFx
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 9, 2019