It was probably not just “fake news” – the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki initially wanted to ward off the suspicion that his government had spied on political opponents with the Pegasus software. She is said to have influenced the outcome of the parliamentary elections in autumn 2019. Documents from the Supreme Court of Auditors in Poland now provide information on how the software was bought in the Sejm in September 2017 – and was even concealed from the MPs.
Opposition leader Donald Tusk had already spoken of “the deepest and most serious crisis in democracy since 1989” and drew a comparison with the Watergate affair, over which US President Nixon fell in 1972. Three people are said to have been spied on: the public prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek, the lawyer Roman Giertych and the Senate member Krzysztof Brejza – he led the 2019 election campaign of the liberal-conservative citizens’ coalition KO, which is now headed by Tusk. The wiretapping during the election campaign shows, Brejza told a radio station, “that influence was exerted on the foundations of democracy.”
Brejza is certain that the 2019 election would have turned out differently if his smartphone hadn’t been hacked. The TVP, which is close to the PiS, presented manipulated SMS from Brejza and gave the impression that Brejza was coordinating hate campaigns against political opponents. After violent attacks on him, Brejza gave up the job of campaign manager. In social networks, Brejza now presented the original and fake news; he said he could never explain how TVP got his SMS. In October he placed in the Gazeta Wyborcza the assumption to have been spied on with Pegasus. His suspicion was confirmed shortly before Christmas.
The AP news agency presented an investigation by the University of Toronto’s Canadian research team Citizen Lab, according to which Brejza’s smartphone was attacked 33 times between April and October 2019. The software, developed by the Israeli NSO Group, enables attackers to skim off messages, photos, passwords and browser histories, and it can also switch on the camera and microphone on the devices without being noticed. The phone of the lawyer Giertych, whose clients include high-ranking opposition figures, was attacked 18 times, also before the 2019 election. Prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek’s cell phone was only hacked in the summer of 2021.
Prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek made herself unpopular because she took action against an early presidential election in spring 2020.
(Photo: Czarek Sokolowski / AP)
Wrzosek campaigns against the judicial reforms of the PiS, which, according to the EU Commission, undermine the rule of law in Poland. Above all, Wrzosek fights for the independence of the public prosecutor’s office. Because of her commitment, Wrzosek has already been given a punishment transfer. She filed a complaint in the hacking affair, but the public prosecutor’s office refused to initiate proceedings. Reason: Wrzosek does not want to hand over her mobile phone. The lawyer told the media that she would have made the device available as soon as an investigation began. the Wyborcza refers to previous cases in which evidence had disappeared.
Paid from the wrong fund
Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that his PO party would request the establishment of a commission of inquiry to clarify the use of the Pegasus software. Government spokesman Piotr Müller replied that he saw no reason for such a commission. If you have any doubts, you should contact the public prosecutor.
Previously, an opposition MP had the Wyborcza handed over a document from the Court of Auditors, which shows how Pegasus was purchased for around 5.4 million euros in 2017. Accordingly, the acquisition for the secret service was illegally paid for from the wrong fund. Above all, however, the purchase was apparently deliberately concealed from members of parliament and officials. So they approved it without knowing how it would be used. The name of the fund through which the purchase went: Victim assistance and combating the consequences of crime.