Two former Polish intelligence chiefs charged over use of Pegasus spyware
Two former directors of Poland’s ABW and SKW face up to three years in prison for allegedly using Israeli spyware Pegasus without proper security clearances
Two former Polish intelligence officials have been charged over their use of the Israeli spyware Pegasus, reigniting political tensions around the deployment of sensitive surveillance technologies in Poland.
According to the national prosecutor’s office, the former directors of the Internal Security Agency (ABW) and the Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW) are being prosecuted for failing to fulfill their official duties.
Both face up to three years in prison. Prosecutors allege that the Pegasus system lacked the necessary IT security accreditations, potentially putting classified information at risk.
An official statement says the two officials allegedly used the software “aware of the risk of compromising” agency operations, including data classified as secret or top secret. Under Polish privacy law, their full names have not been released, though former SKW head Maciej Materka identified himself on social media, denying the charges as unfounded.
The former ABW chief, Piotr P., led the agency from 2015 to 2016, while Materka headed the SKW from 2018 to 2022. Both served under the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party.
The Pegasus case has cast a shadow over Polish politics for several years. The current government alleges the software was used to monitor opposition figures prior to the 2023 change in power. Pegasus, developed by the Israeli firm NSO Group and officially intended for counterterrorism and organized crime operations, has sparked ongoing debate in Europe over its legal use and implications for civil liberties.