UK-based dissident can sue Saudi Arabia for alleged spyware, court rules

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LONDON (Reuters) – A prominent Saudi dissident who accuses Saudi Arabia of targeting him with spyware can sue the kingdom in London, his lawyers said on Monday.

Yahya Assiri, a founder of the opposition National Assembly Party (NAAS) who lives in exile in Britain, alleges his electronic devices were targeted with surveillance software between 2018 and 2020.

He is suing Saudi Arabia at London’s High Court, saying the country used Pegasus – made by Israeli company NSO Group and sold only to nation states – and other spyware made by lesser-known Israeli firm QuaDream because of his work with dissidents.

Saudi Arabia’s embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this month, Roger Eastman, a judge in the High Court, gave Assiri permission to serve his lawsuit on the Saudi government, a step that required the court to find Assiri has an arguable case.

The decision announced on Monday to allow the case to be served on Saudi Arabia in Riyadh was made on Oct. 11.

Assiri said in a statement: “I am fully aware that the authorities will want to target me. However, it is outrageous for them also to target individuals such as the victims of rights abuses and their families in Saudi Arabia simply because these people have been in contact with me.”

The case is the latest spyware suit against a Gulf state to be heard by an English court: the Court of Appeal earlier this month rejected Bahrain’s bid to claim state immunity in a case brought by two dissidents who say its government hacked their laptops with spyware.

London’s High Court in 2022 rejected an attempt by Saudi Arabia to claim immunity in a separate case brought by a dissident over the alleged use of Pegasus.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by Barbara Lewis)