Saudi Arabia And Israel’s NSO Face Fresh Spyware Challenge From Khashoggi Ally

Saudi Arabia and Israeli technology company NSO are facing another legal challenge in the UK, after British-Jordanian human rights activist Dr Azzam Tamimi launched legal proceedings against them.

Tamimi was a friend of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

He is being represented by law firm Bindmans and the Global Legal Action Network, which earlier this year launched a similar case on behalf of three other UK-based civil society leaders and human rights activists, who claim they were hacked by the UAE and Saudi Arabia using NSO’s Pegasus software.

Tamimi, the founder and editor-in-chief of satellite television channel Al-Hiwar, says he was targeted by the Saudi state using the same spyware. His case in the High Court of England & Wales against NSO Group and Saudi Arabia is based on a claim for breach of privacy.

“I was hacked with Pegasus spyware while I was in touch with Mr Khashoggi, most likely with a view to silencing a brave and widely respected journalist,” he said in a statement. “This deliberate and evil act shows that the regime will stop at nothing to crush free speech and the human rights of those who criticize it. We will bring these matters into the light and believe that justice will prevail in the end.”

In August, the High Court ruled that Saudi dissident Ghanem Al-Masarir could proceed with his case against the Saudi government, which also centers on the hacking of his phone using Pegasus. Saudi Arabia’s argument that it was protected by sovereign immunity was dismissed by the court.

Tayab Ali, a partner at Bindmans, said the use of the spyware in the UK by foreign states was “such a serious breach of national security that it should be of major concern to the UK government and security services”. He called on the UK government to hold a public inquiry into the issue.

Siobhan Allen, a senior lawyer with GLAN and consultant solicitor at Bindmans, added: “Powerful spyware is being silently deployed across borders by authoritarian states targeting human rights defenders who expect to be able to conduct their important work safely in the UK. The English courts need to recognise that this should not have happened and cannot be allowed to continue with impunity.”

In an assessment released in February 2021, the CIA judged that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman had approved the operation in Istanbul to capture or kill Khashoggi. Saudi officials have always denied this. Earlier this month, the Biden administration told a U.S. court that MBS should be granted sovereign immunity in a civil case involving the murder, because he had recently been promoted to prime minister.