Bindmans LLP have been instructed to proceed with investigating claims that will potentially be brought by a number of individuals into the alleged misuse of NSO Group’s Pegasus malware by foreign governments. The group currently includes a member of the House of Lords, human rights activists, prominent academics and leaders of civil society organisations, including: 

1. Baroness Manzila Pola Uddin – Member of the House of Lords
2. Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed – Spokesperson of the NAAS Party, Academic & Professor at LSE
3. Raghad Altikriti – President of the Muslim Association of Britain
4. Anas Altikriti – CEO & Founder of The Cordoba Foundation
5. Dr Azzam Tamimi – British / Jordanian Academic
6. Mohammed Kozbar – Chairman of Finsbury Park Mosque
7. Yahya Assiri – Secretary General of the NAAS Party & Human Rights Activist
8. Yusuf al-Jamri – Bahraini blogger and Activist
9. Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei – Director of Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy

The potential claims follow on from an investigation into a leaked batch of 50,000 telephone numbers carried out by Amnesty International’s Security Lab and a collaboration of journalists across ten countries coordinated by Forbidden Stories, including The Guardian in the United Kingdom. The investigation is known globally as ‘The Pegasus Project’.

Monika Sobiecki, partner in the Media and Information Law team at Bindmans LLP, said:

The shock of the revelations from the Pegasus Project lies in the fact that the misuse of this surveillance spyware touches us all. No matter where in the world an individual may be, or which country they are a citizen of, they and their family, friends and contacts are all vulnerable to having their most intimate personal data raked over by hostile third parties, including authoritarian regimes and political opponents.

Litigation will pave the way to others seeking redress for the unwarranted intrusions into their privacy and will send a strong signal globally that the development and misuse of this surveillance technology causes real harm to democracy everywhere.

The claimants are represented by Tamsin Allen, Monika Sobiecki and Tayab Ali of Bindmans LLP, together with Richard Hermer QC and Ben Silverstone of Matrix Chambers who are instructed as Counsel.

To find out more about the case or to support the claimants to this challenge, visit the CrowdJustice fund here.

You can find our previous insight on this matter here.