2024-04-10 21:10 update: 2024-04-11, 14:57
Photo: Leszek Szymański
The National Prosecutor's Office (PK) has called 31 people who could have been subject to surveillance by Pegasus spyware under the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government to testify as witnesses, the PK has announced.
The new pro-EU coalition government accused PiS, when it was in government, of purchasing Pegasus from the Israeli firm NSO to spy on people linked with the then opposition. The government has cited reports from Citizen Lab, a specialised unit at the University of Toronto, phone maker Apple, and Amnesty International.
Pegasus can hack into smartphones in order to harvest information and eavesdrop on conversations.
On Wednesday, the PK said that prosecutors investigating the use of Pegasus had issued summonses for the first 31 people who are suspected of being victims of the spyware to appear at the prosecutor's office.
These people will be questioned as witnesses, the PK's spokesman Przemyslaw Nowak said.
He also said that, on March 18, an investigation was launched into the abuse of powers and failure to fulfill duties by public officials in the period from November 7, 2017 to December 31, 2022 while using the Pegasus software for operational and reconnaissance activities.
According to the prosecutor's office, these activities were to the detriment of the public and private interests of persons subject to surveillance by Pegasus. (PAP)
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