2024-04-27 18:08 update: 2024-04-29, 21:37
Adam Bodnar. Photo PAP/Albert Zawada
A prominent politician from Poland's former ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) was among people summoned by prosecutors because he was subject to surveillance by Pegasus spyware while PiS was in power, the National Prosecutor's office has said.
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.
Recently, it has been reported that PiS's own members were also under surveillance by the secret services.
Pegasus can hack into smartphones in order to harvest information and eavesdrop on conversations.
On April 10, the justice minister and prosecutor general, Adam Bodnar, announced that around 31 people would be notified that their phones had been hacked by Pegasus spyware and summoned to testify as witnesses.
On Friday night, Przemyslaw Nowak, spokesperson for the National Prosecutor's Office, said that Marek Suski, a senior PiS member was among the 31 people summoned.
As many as 578 people were apparently subject to surveillance in the years 2017-2022, according to Bodnar. (PAP)
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