Spanish high court calls Israeli Pegasus CEO to testify in spying case
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Israeli spyware has landed Spanish officials in legal debacles.
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Judges hear from the defense lawyers on December 18, 2018 at the Supreme Court in Madrid during a preliminary hearing ahead of a trial of 18 Catalan separatist leaders. (AFP)
The High Court of Spain has called the chief executive officer of notorious Israeli tech firm NSO Group Shalev Hulio, to testify as a witness in a case of espionage on Spanish politicians.
Jose Luis Calama, the Spanish judge dealing with the case, will be visiting "Israel" to question the CEO under the commission that investigates evidence of spying on Spain's politicians. The date which the testimony will take place has not been announced.
The Pegasus software was used by Spanish governmental officials to spy on Catalan separatists, including PM Pedro Sanchez and Spanish Minister of Defense Margarita Robles.
In Early May, Madrid dismissed the Spanish national intelligence chief as the scandal surrounding the hacking of the prime minister and Catalan leaders' phones unfolded.
In March, the European Parliament formulated a special committee to investigate breaches of law after Hungary and Poland reported illegal use of the program by governments.
Esteban confirmed that 18 Catalan separatists, including Pere Aragone, the head of the regional government in Catalonia, had been spied on by the CNI, though that spying was approved by Madrid.
The affair had led to a crisis between Sanchez's minority government and the ERC separatist Catalan party. The premier's fragile coalition is heavily reliant on the separatist party within parliament, as it cannot pass legislation alone.
On May 2, the scandal deepened following the revelation that Sanchez and Robles' phones were hacked by the same spyware, the Israeli NSO group's Pegasus.
Israeli NSO Group's spyware, notorious for its usage in many cyberattacks around the world, helped authoritarian governments silence their opposition, journalists, human rights activists, and the heads of other states.
The scandal involved the phones of about 50,000 targets, which included many prominent politicians, businessmen, activists, journalists, and opposition figures around the world.
