Morawiecki possibly spied on during the Pegasus scandal

Victims of the misuse of Pegasus spyware under the previous conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government may have included former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, according to Polish media reports.

Two years ago, a scandal erupted following the findings of the Citizen Lab research centre that the smartphones of prominent opposition politicians, journalists and activists, including Senator Krzysztof Brejza of Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform party (PO, EPP), lawyer Roman Giertych and later Deputy Agriculture Minister Michał Kołodziejczak, had probably been spied on by Pegasus spyware.

More recently, reports emerged that PiS politicians Marek Suski, Ryszard Terlecki and Adam Bielan were among the victims of spying. On Monday, the private radio station RMF FM reported that the then-prime minister Morawiecki had also been spied on for a year and a half.

If the reports are confirmed, “it would create an unprecedented situation” in post-Communist Poland, which is “unacceptable in any democratic country,” said Brejza, who now serves as MEP. He announced that he initiated the application before the National Public Prosecutor’s Office on the matter.

“Surveillance of the prime minister by the special services would indicate that the spyware at their disposal is being misused for factional fights within the PiS party,” he argued, recalling that under the Polish law, Pegasus may not be used “for operational control.”

In fact, in Poland, any use of Pegasus spyware is a criminal abuse of power, Brejza insisted, because it involves the crime of transferring and disclosing classified information to unspecified members of foreign intelligence services.

Brejza requested the National Public Prosecutor’s Office question Morawiecki, PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński, as well as former Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński and former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro “on their knowledge of the illegal surveillance of Mateusz Morawiecki, the reasons for this surveillance (…) and the circulation of the acquired content.”

During the PiS government, the media reported a conflict between Morawiecki, a prominent figure within the PiS, and Ziobro, a former PiS member and later leader of the Sovereign Poland party, which governed with the PiS as a junior coalition member.

One of the issues of contention was EU policy, with Morawiecki favouring constructive relations with Brussels and Ziobro openly anti-EU. It has been said that both Morawiecki and Ziobro hope to become PiS leaders when Kaczyński retires.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)