British judge ruled that a case may proceed against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia accusing a dissident comedian who became a spyware target, a decision hailed as a legal precedent and could allow other victims to hacking to sue foreign governments that order such attacks.
The case against Saudi Arabia was brought by Ghanem Almasarir, a prominent comedian who has been granted asylum in the UK. The comedian is a frequent critic of the Saudi royal family.
At the heart of the case are allegations that Saudi Arabia ordered the hacking of Ghanem Almasarir's phone, and that he received physical attack by Kingdom agents in London in 2018.
Targeting and piracy of Almasarir's phone, from a network possibly linked to Saudi Arabia was confirmed by investigators at Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, who are considered among the leading experts in monitoring digital surveillance of dissidents, journalists and other members of civil society.
Saudi Arabia is also known to have been a client of the Group NSO, whose powerful hacking software Pegasus secretly infiltrates and monitors smartphones.
Saudi Arabia's attempt to dismiss the case on the grounds that it had state immunity protection under a 1978 state immunity law was rejected by a high court judge.
In the ruling, which Saudi Arabia may appeal, Judge Julian Knowles found that Almasarir's case could be exempted from the state immunity law that applies to any act of a foreign state that causes bodily harm.
It also found that Almasarir had provided enough evidence to prove that Saudi Arabia was responsible for the attack.
Of course, the decision could have profound implications for other people who have been targeted with NSO's spyware or other malware (we're not naming names).
