The Pegasus system was a tool for exercising power – said in “Piasecki's conversation” on TVN24 Minister of Justice, Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar. He announced that there would be allegations regarding the use of software. He added that the procedure “goes in two directions”.
Adam Bodnar He announced on Thursday in “Piasecki's conversation” that there would be allegations for using Pegasus. Asked if there would be allegations for being used Pegasus at all, or how he was used, he said that “proceedings are going in two directions.” – That is, in this individual direction, when it comes to assessment of decision making in relation to specific people, and then it will be more responsibility of individual officers. And the second thing, it is, as far as this software could be used in the territory of the Republic of Poland – he added.
He noted that “it was not software where we had full power over it, but was the use of an external Israeli entity.”
The Minister of Justice was asked if any politician received reports from the use of Pegasus and whether this knowledge was used in political activities or in an election campaign. – At this stage I can say that such a thread is also examined in this procedure. And I can't say anything more – Bodnar answered.
He said that “it was also a tool for exercising power in those days.” He added that “now we see clearly that when Pegasus ended, the second era began, i.e. this Hermes software bought by the National Prosecutor's Office.”
– And from this analyzes, information that was provided in the media or from the report of the Supreme Audit Office, shows that this Hermes was used for such a de facto political targeting – he said.
Asked if today Polish services have similar tools, he replied that “I am not aware that they have such tools”.
Surveillance of Pegasus
Pegasus is a system that was created by the Israeli company NSO Group to fight terrorism and organized crime. With its help, you can not only eavesdrop on conversations from an infected smartphone, but also access to other data stored in it, e.g. emails, photos or recordings as well as cameras and microphones.
According to those previously transferred, incl. By NIKinformation, the Pegasus system was purchased in autumn 2017 for the Central Anti -Corruption Bureau, from funds from the main part (PLN 25 million) from the Justice Fund. According to the information of the Prosecutor General sent to the Sejm and Senate last year, in 2017-2022 operational control using Pegasus covered 578 people.
The study of the PEGASUS system is examined in the National Prosecutor's Office. Investigative Team number 3. The proceedings relate to exceeding the rights and failure to fulfill their duties by public officials. It examines, among others, the issue of the legality of operational and reconnaissance activities undertaken with the help of Pegasus, and the circumstances regarding its method of use, among others, to the political opponents of the then ruling team, and the method of obtaining a closed materials of the then.
In August 2024, in the investigation regarding the Justice Fund, the allegation of exceeding the rights and failure to fulfill the duties consisting in the transfer of PLN 25 million from the funds of this fund for the purchase of Pegasus software for CBAheard Michał Woś – currently a PiS MP, in the past deputy minister in the Ministry of Justice. In September 2017, Woś as deputy head of MS submitted a request to the Ministry of Finance for a change in the FS financial plan in order to transfer PLN 25 million to the purchase of Pegasus. Woś later said that the accusation is “worth all this neoprocouction”, and thanks to his decisions “the Polish state gained a tool for combating killers, spy nets”.
The PEGASUS system is also dealt with by the Sejm inquiry commission, which is investigating whether the use of this surveillance software by the government, special services and the police at a time when PiS ruled was lawful. The Commission is also to determine who was responsible for the purchase of Pegasus and similar tools for Polish authorities.
Author/author: JS/KA
Source: TVN24, PAP
Source of the main photo: Tvn24