Pegasus inquiry report: criminal referrals for 11 people, "the state treated like a private estate"

The Sejm's Pegasus inquiry committee presented its final report on Monday. The public part runs to 370 pages, while the classified part is to be discussed in closed sessions. The committee is sending criminal referrals to prosecutors concerning 11 people. They include Zbigniew Ziobro, Mariusz Kamiński, Maciej Wąsik and Michał Woś, as well as former heads of the CBA, ABW and SKW services. A referral is neither an indictment nor a verdict: it is for prosecutors to assess whether there are grounds for charges.

Eight years under scrutiny

The committee was set up on 17 January 2024 and examined the period from November 2015 to November 2023. Its subject was the use of Pegasus, spyware made by the Israeli firm NSO which, once installed on a phone, gives access to its entire contents, including messages, photos and contacts. The committee's findings cover, among other things, the cost of the purchase, the security of the system itself and the court approvals for its use.

What Pegasus cost

According to the NIK audit office, the purchase cost PLN 33.4 million. More than PLN 8 million of that went to an intermediary firm, and PLN 25 million came from the Justice Fund, which was meant mainly to help victims of crime. The committee says only that the total cost was "considerably higher" and gives no figure of its own. Prime Minister Donald Tusk speaks of more than PLN 60 million, over PLN 30 million of which is said to have gone to the Israeli firm. For now, the figures cannot be reconciled.

Judges did not know what they were approving

The most serious findings concern the security of the system. Pegasus never passed an IT security accreditation, part of its infrastructure remained under NSO's control, and data passed through foreign IP addresses. According to the committee, judges who approved surveillance did not know that Pegasus gave access to the entire contents of a phone. That matters because in Poland such surveillance requires a court's consent, and it is the court that must judge whether the intrusion into privacy is justified. The same day, experts for the National Prosecutor's Office found that surveillance data could have reached Israel.

Referrals and charges

Prosecutors have so far charged seven people. The committee's referrals are further material that prosecutors will have to examine. The report does not establish anyone's guilt: prosecutors decide on charges, and only a court can rule on guilt. "In this case the state was treated like a private estate, and the law as an obstacle to get around," says the committee's chair, Magdalena Sroka. Prime Minister Tusk wrote on X that "the Pegasus affair, one of the biggest scandals in Poland's history since the fall of communism, is coming to an end".

What happens next

The committee still has to adopt the report formally. Sejm Speaker Czarzasty will then set a date for it to be presented in the chamber. It is not known when that will happen. One of the basic questions in the case also remains open: how many people were surveilled with Pegasus during the period examined.