Polish prime minister says he has ‘long list’ of opposition politicians bugged by Pegasus spyware

Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, told the country’s President Andrzej Duda that he has evidence Polish intelligence acquired Pegasus spyware and used it against the then opposition.

“I have a disclosed document, but it is only a sample of the documents that are at your disposal Mr. President, which unfortunately, I say this without satisfaction, confirm one hundred percent the purchase and use in a legal and illegal manner of Pegasus,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated. “The list of victims of these practices is unfortunately very, very long,” he added.

Tusk claimed that the Pegasus program was purchased during the previous Polish government, at the request of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, using money from the Justice Fund.

In early February, Gazeta.pl reported that the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party had a list of politicians who were under surveillance by the intelligence services and could allegedly be bugged by Pegasus. PiS led the country’s government from 2015-2023, before Tusk ascended to the premiership in December 2023. RMF FM wrote that Mateusz Morawiecki, the former prime minister, was supposed to be among those politicians, but whether he ended up on the list is not specified.