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https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-high-court-orders-saudi-arabia-pay-dissident-over-pegasus-hackPublished by: MIDDLE EAST EYE on 26 Jan 2026
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The English High Court has ordered Saudi Arabia to pay a London-based dissident more than £3m after concluding that the kingdom infected his phone with spyware and directed a physical attack against him. A judge ruled that Ghanem al-Masarir, a former Saudi citizen and human rights activist, wasentitled to compensation for the psychiatric harm he had suffered after discovering his phone was hacked in 2018.
The court accepted that Saudi authorities infected the phone with Pegasus, a notorious spyware acquired from Israeli tech company NSO Group.
The court also concluded that a physical attack suffered by Masarir outside the Harrods department store in west London in August 2018 was directed by Riyadh, for which he was also entitled to compensation.
The total damages awarded by the court, to be paid for by the Saudi state, are £3,025,663.
“The Claimant was subject to various acts of intimidation between 2015 and 2019,” said Judge Pushpinder Saini. “I infer that [...]
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Who are Middle East Eye?Middle East Eye (MEE) is a United Kingdom-based media website and channel that primarily focuses on news related to the Middle East, North Africa, and the broader Muslim world.
What is Saudi Arabia?Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is a country in Western Asia constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula. With a land area of approximately 2,150,000 km2 (830,000 sq mi), Saudi Arabia is geographically the largest sovereign state in the Middle East, the 2nd largest in the Arab world (after Algeria), the 5th largest in Asia, and the 12th largest in the world. Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast and Yemen to the south; most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland and mountains. As of October 2018, the Saudi economy was the largest in the Middle East and the 18th largest in the world. Saudi Arabia also enjoys one of the world's youngest populations; 50% of its 33.4 million people are under 25 years old.
Where is Israel?Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East. Located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest.
