Poland denies using NSO’s Pegasus spyware for political ends

Poland rejects accusations that it used Pegasus spying software for political ends after a top lawyer opposed to the current government says he was targeted.

“The suggestion that Polish services used operational methods for political ends is unjustified,” says Stanislaw Zaryn, spokesman for the ministry in charge of the secret services.

Roman Giertych, a lawyer involved in several cases against the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, claims that Poland was using the spyware “to fight the democratic opposition.”

“Using this type of program to fight the opposition completely eliminates the sense of democratic elections,” he says, explaining that the spyware was used ahead of the 2019 elections.

Ewa Wrzosek, a prosecutor and opposition figure, also says the spyware had been used against her. She had been alerted by Apple, she adds.

Citizen Lab, a cyber-security watchdog based in Canada, confirms it looked into the use of Pegasus against Giertych and Wrzosek.

“We conducted these investigations and provided confirmation to the two named individuals that they were repeatedly infected with Pegasus spyware,” John Scott Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, tells AFP.