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In the trial of the century, an activist and the whole state will meet.
The UK Supreme Court has allowed human rights activist Yahya Assiri to file a lawsuit against the Saudi government for allegedly using spyware to spy on him. Now the case may go to court if the Saudi authorities do not decide on a settlement or the lawsuit is not dismissed.
Assiri, a former Saudi activist who lives in the UK, claims his phone was infected with Pegasus spyware from the Israeli company NSO Group. In addition, Assiri said that other software from QuaDream was installed on his devices.
Saudi authorities have repeatedly tried to stop such litigation, citing the country's sovereignty. However, Assiri said the court's decision was important to him because it opened up the possibility of bringing those who violated human rights to justice.
Assiri stresses that his main goal is to secure the release of human rights defenders imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. He is ready to abandon the lawsuit if the country's authorities begin reforms, the first step of which should be the release of prisoners for political reasons. Money from Saudi Arabia is not his goal, it is the cessation of human rights violations that is important.
The court's decision drew a positive response from Human Rights Watch, which called the case an important step towards the Saudi government's responsibility for spying on activists and dissidents. The decision itself was made on October 11, but it became known only at the beginning of this week.
Assiri is a longtime critic of the Saudi regime, a close friend of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and has been living in the UK since 2013, fearing for his safety. Assiri is the director of a human rights organization and the founder of the opposition party in Saudi Arabia.
The use of spyware, especially Pegasus, has become a widespread method for spying on human rights defenders, journalists, and political opponents around the world. Although NSO Group claims that it only sells its products to government entities for law enforcement and intelligence purposes, there are numerous cases where the software has been used against activists and dissidents, including in Saudi Arabia.
In 2018, Amnesty International's research lab found suspicious messages on Assiri's phone that they believed were attempts to infect his device with Pegasus spyware. Later, the fact of using software produced by QuaDream against Assyria was revealed.
Source
The UK Supreme Court has allowed human rights activist Yahya Assiri to file a lawsuit against the Saudi government for allegedly using spyware to spy on him. Now the case may go to court if the Saudi authorities do not decide on a settlement or the lawsuit is not dismissed.
Assiri, a former Saudi activist who lives in the UK, claims his phone was infected with Pegasus spyware from the Israeli company NSO Group. In addition, Assiri said that other software from QuaDream was installed on his devices.
Saudi authorities have repeatedly tried to stop such litigation, citing the country's sovereignty. However, Assiri said the court's decision was important to him because it opened up the possibility of bringing those who violated human rights to justice.
Assiri stresses that his main goal is to secure the release of human rights defenders imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. He is ready to abandon the lawsuit if the country's authorities begin reforms, the first step of which should be the release of prisoners for political reasons. Money from Saudi Arabia is not his goal, it is the cessation of human rights violations that is important.
The court's decision drew a positive response from Human Rights Watch, which called the case an important step towards the Saudi government's responsibility for spying on activists and dissidents. The decision itself was made on October 11, but it became known only at the beginning of this week.
Assiri is a longtime critic of the Saudi regime, a close friend of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and has been living in the UK since 2013, fearing for his safety. Assiri is the director of a human rights organization and the founder of the opposition party in Saudi Arabia.
The use of spyware, especially Pegasus, has become a widespread method for spying on human rights defenders, journalists, and political opponents around the world. Although NSO Group claims that it only sells its products to government entities for law enforcement and intelligence purposes, there are numerous cases where the software has been used against activists and dissidents, including in Saudi Arabia.
In 2018, Amnesty International's research lab found suspicious messages on Assiri's phone that they believed were attempts to infect his device with Pegasus spyware. Later, the fact of using software produced by QuaDream against Assyria was revealed.
Source