Spain shelves Pegasus spyware investigation which targeted PM Sanchez among others. Know why

Audiencia Nacional, Spain's top criminal court, has shelved an investigation into the alleged hacking of ministers' phones with Pegasus spyware after Israel refused any cooperation concerning the case.

Judge José Luis Calama said the court had decided to provisionally close the case “due to the complete lack of legal cooperation from Israel, which has not responded to the rogatory commission...and has prevented the investigation from going ahead”.

In June 2022, Calama sent a formal request to the Israeli government asking for information about the software made by the Israeli firm NSO Group. He also called the company's chief executive officer to testify as a witness in the case.

However, after the Israeli government did not answer the request for assistance, sent four times, the court stated "it probably never would".

“All that remains is a possible diplomatic channel capable of promoting compliance with the obligations derived from international treaties,” it said.

It was in May last year that an investigation into the matter was started after the Spanish government informed that the spyware was used to target top politicians of the country.

Who did the spyware target?

According to Citizen Lab, a Canadian cybersecurity watchdog, the phones of more than 60 people linked to the Catalanseparatist movement had been tapped using Pegasus spyware after a failed independence bid in 2017.

Similarly, the phones of Prime MinisterPedro Sánchez, interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, defence minister Margarita Robles, and agriculture minister Luis Planas were targeted.

Authorities informed thatSánchez's phone was bugged on five occasions betweenOctober 2020 and December 2021. Despite thorough investigation, it could not be determined who was behind the attacks.

The Pegasus controversy

Nearly two years ago, Forbidden Stories along with Amnesty International and a consortium of journalists from 17 news outlets across the world first exposed Pegasus and its use by various governments across the globe.

Pegasus infiltrated phones to vacuum up personal and location data and surreptitiously control the smartphone’s microphones and cameras.

The company is also being sued by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly targeting some 1,400 users of its encrypted messaging service WhatsApp with its spyware.

(With inputs from agencies)

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