JERUSALEM: The embattled Israeli spytech firm NSO Group filed Sunday a defamation lawsuit against a newspaper that reported its Pegasus software had been used by police against dozens of prominent Israelis.

The reports by the business daily Calcalist triggered public outrage in Israel, with the government promising answers and President Isaac Herzog saying the alleged police misconduct put the country’s democratic foundations at risk.

But the police and justice ministry have said their internal inquiries since the bombshell Calcalist reports were published earlier this month prove the paper was wrong.

On Sunday, NSO said it was suing the paper for corrections and one million shekels ($309,367 or 274,440 euros) after its letter demanding a formal correction went unanswered.

“It appears that this is not a journalistic investigation but a one-sided, biased and false publication,” said a statement from NSO, based near Tel Aviv.

Calcalist’s editorial board said they would “respond in court” to the accusations, according to a spokesperson.