German prosecutors charge four over violating trade act to sell spyware to Turkey

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities have filed charges against four suspects from a Bavarian company accused of selling surveillance software to Turkey that could be used to spy on Turkish dissidents. Munich prosecutors said Monday the defendants are accused of having intentionally violated licensing requirements for dual-use goods by selling surveillance software to non-EU countries. Specifically, the four suspects from the FinFisher company are charged with commercial violations of the German trade and payments act in three separate cases. The company’s surveillance software FinSpy was offered for download in 2017 via a fake website to the Turkish opposition movement under false pretenses in order to spy on them.