Hot Potato, Polish Politician Accuses Prosecutors Of Failing To Handle Pegasus Hacking Case Against Him

JAKARTA - A Polish opposition senator who believes his phone was hacked using the Pegasus spyware, developed by Israel-based NSO Group, has accused prosecutors of failing to act on the case. He saw the case as a "hot potato", a complicated and controversial situation to be forwarded to other institutions.

The Associated Press (AP) as quoted by Reuters reported this month that researchers at the University of Toronto had found that senator Krzysztof Brejza was hacked in 2019 using the Pegasus software, during an election in which he ran the campaign as the largest opposition party.

The AP also reported that the Citizen Lab project at the University of Toronto found Ewa Wrzosek, a prosecutor critical of the government's judicial reforms, and Roman Giertych, a lawyer representing opposition figures, had hacked their phones.

All three said that Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party was responsible for the hack.

Stanislaw Zaryn, a spokesman for the Polish security services, said he could not comment on the methods used by the Polish Security Service or whether the service had investigated specific individuals.

He has previously also said that any suggestion that the Polish service is involved in a domestic political battle is false.

A PiS spokesman declined to comment further on the case. "The security services have commented on this topic," he said.

"The prosecutor's office did nothing, they were paralyzed," Brejza told Reuters by telephone. He added that he and his wife had informed prosecutors of a possible phone hack in September.

"The prosecutor's office is playing with time. They don't want to launch an investigation or refuse to start an investigation, they just treat it as a hot potato that is best thrown elsewhere," Brejza said.

He said complaints had been passed between prosecutors' offices across the country without any effect.

The Polish National Prosecutor's Office and the Prosecutor's Office in Ostrow Wielkopolski, which are currently working on the Brejza case, did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

These government critics say that the prosecutor's office has been politicized. Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who also serves as attorney general, has been cited as the architect of judicial reforms that the European Union says undermines judicial independence.

While the NSO Group has always said that they make technology for use by governments and law enforcement agencies to fight crime and terrorism, and have safeguards in place to prevent abuse.

Digital rights researchers say Pegasus has been used to spy on civil society in several countries.