Montreal Police Say They Did Not Tap Into Journalists’ Phones

According to a new report from the Toronto Sun, Montreal police have not tapped the phones of any journalists during an investigation. On Saturday, Chief Philippe Pichet said that they only tapped the phones of its own officers under investigation.

Pichet issued the response after La Presse reported that police obtained a warrant to tap into the phone calls of two of its journalists; later reports uncovered even more journalists had their phone calls and texts tracked by police.

“The newspaper reported it obtained an affidavit and an authorization that showed a judge granted a 60-day warrant in May to allow police to intercept the private communications of columnist Patrick Lagace and journalist Vincent Larouche.”

In a statement, Pichet claims that the police force only wiretapped the phones of police officers who were under investigation. He said:

“(Montreal police) did listen in on their police officers who were under investigation, but no person other than these officers were subject to electronic surveillance. Of course, any person having communicated with the officers in question could be heard in the conversations.”

The police chief also said that protective measures were put in place in case the officers being investigated make a phone call with journalists.

The province has launched an inquiry to investigate the allegations.