Revealing new dimensions of espionage with Pegasus in Poland

According to the international group Tasnim News Agency, during the 2019 Polish election campaign, a number of politicians The opposition has been spied on, and now it has become clear that the story is even bigger than expected, and members of the then ruling Law and Justice party were also the targets of this espionage attack.

Donald Tusk, Prime Minister Poland said: “I don’t want to surprise you, but maybe this information will surprise you.” in the history of Poland after reunification.

Tusk also said: “Unfortunately, the document here confirms what we were afraid of, which is the purchase of Pegasus at the initiative of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau.” It was requested and approved by the then Minister Ziobro with the funds of the Justice Fund. I have to say, this makes me very sad.” According to the German newspaper “Tagschau”, according to the new Polish government, it is actually the government under the rule of the Law and Justice Party in the form of the decree of Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro. who was in office until recently, ordered the purchase of Pegasus spyware for 9.6 million euros and secretly financed it with funds that were actually intended to support victims of crime. /p>

The so-called Pegasus spying scandal came into the spotlight in Poland because during the 2019 election campaign, allegedly leaked messages from Krzysztof Bryza, then-opposition campaign leader and current ruling PO party, suddenly appeared on state television. TVP was shown. Briza later said that during the campaign, the Law and Justice Party was also significantly aware of every phase of the opposition’s campaign.

During the campaign, he said, Law and Justice Party politicians And justice accompanied us every step of the way. They appeared wherever we went.

He added: “That’s why I believe the issue should be clarified quickly by the investigation committee, because all this is based on The freedom and integrity of the elections have been affected.

In this wiretapping scandal, a number of opposition politicians, a public prosecutor critical of the Law and Justice Party, journalists, members of the State Audit Office and – as it has now become clear – apparently himself PiS politicians have also been exploited and spied on.

Even Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime minister of Poland until recently, is said to have been on the Pegasus list. The use of spy software in Poland was such that even the manufacturer – the Israeli company NSO – canceled the Polish license. According to Yaroslav Kaczynski, the leader of the Law and Justice Party, this story is still a “bad wind balloon”. According to him, Prime Minister Morawiski was certainly not listened to. Kaczynski says that everything that was done was for the benefit of the Polish nation.

In early 2023, a commission of inquiry concluded that Pegasus was used to systematically monitor people who were not suspected of a crime. Does not exist. This report did not have any legal consequences.

Now after the change of government, it is really possible to deal with this matter. The commission of inquiry of the Parliament has been formed since Monday.

President Duda does not seem to be surprised by Tusk’s statements. He, who is affiliated with the Law and Justice Party, said that he is in favor of the investigation – but not unconditionally. He added: Above all, I expect honesty from the government.

In this way, the new Polish government can hardly count on the real support of President Duda in the investigation.

Task He said: I have documents in my hand that unfortunately confirm 100 illegal use of documents and confidential information by Pegasus, unfortunately the list of victims of these actions is very long.

“Pegasus” is a program developed by the Israeli company NSO Group Technologies it was made. This program was considered a valuable tool for intelligence agencies because it could be installed remotely on the smartphone of the person being spied on.

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