#pegasus-spyware

#pegasus-spyware

Mr Justice Saini ruled that the Saudi government infected the phone of Ghanem al-Masarir with Pegasus spyware and, while surveillance was continuing, in 2018, its agents attacked him outside Harrods in central London. It was a landmark judgment, holding to account a regime that has faced numerous allegations of human rights abuses but has consistently managed to avoid legal responsibility for abuses.

Saini said there was a compelling basis for concluding that the claimant's iPhones were hacked by Pegasus spyware, which resulted in the exfiltration of data from those mobile phones, and that this conduct was directed or authorised by the KSA [kingdom of Saudi Arabia] or agents acting on its behalf. The judge also found, on the balance of probabilities, that Saudi Arabia was responsible for the 2018 physical attack on al-Masarir,

Weil Gotshal partner Gerhard Schmidt, co-managing partner of the Biglaw firm's German offices and a private equity and mergers & acquisitions attorney, is on the hot seat thanks to a €5 million personal investment. According to reporting by the Financial Times, in 2017 Schmidt invested the money in private equity group Novalpina Capital, sans the typical investor fees due to his relationship with the founders, and chaired Novalpina Capital.