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Reuters, Warsaw, December 29-Polish prosecutors said on Wednesday that they would not investigate allegations that the phone of a well-known government critic was hacked because opposition figures are under illegal surveillance.
There are reports that sophisticated spyware developed by the Israel-based NSO Group has been used against government opponents including prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek, which has led to accusations that special services are undermining democratic norms.
Wrzosek is a member of the Lex Super Omnia group, which opposes the politicization of the so-called law and justice (PiS) party prosecution service. She received a notice from Apple in November that her mobile phone may have been hacked by the NSO group Pegasus software.
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This month, the Associated Press reported that the Citizen Lab project of the University of Toronto found that Wrzosek was one of three critics of the Polish government whose mobile phones were hacked.
In a statement explaining the refusal to investigate the case, Aleksandra Skrzyniarz, a spokesperson for the Warsaw District Attorney’s Office, said: “The only sign that a cyber attack may occur… is the news from the phone manufacturer. .”
“However, the message did not clearly state that a cyber attack occurred, but contained a disclaimer that the alert may be wrong,” Skrzyniarz said, adding that Wrzosek refused to hand over the phone for inspection.
Wrzosek told the private broadcaster TVN24 that she will appeal the decision.
“I don’t think there are any legal prerequisites or reasons for the decision to refuse to start this procedure,” she said.
The Polish security services will not comment on the methods they use or whether they have investigated specific people. However, the spokesperson Stanislav Zaarin denied any claims about the Polish military’s involvement in domestic political struggles.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki dismissed the statement that Polish service agencies used spyware against opposition figures, calling it “fake news.”
NSO stated that it manufactures technology for use by governments and law enforcement agencies to combat crime and terrorism, and has safeguards against abuse.
Digital rights researchers say that Pegasus has been used to monitor civil societies in multiple countries.
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Reporting by Alan Charlish and Anna Koper; Editing by Giles Elgood
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