UK court rules Dubai ruler hacked ex-wife's phone
October 6, 2021
England's High Court ruled on Wednesday that UAE ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum gave "express or implied authority" to hack his ex-wife's phone using Israeli Pegasus software.
Mohammed, 72, denied the allegations on Wednesday after hearing the verdict, claiming the court decision was "unfair" and "based on an incomplete picture."
The High Court decided to give Princess Haya custody of her two children with the UAE ruler at the end of a multi-million pound custody hearing. A March 2020 court ruling said the sheikh had abducted his two daughters from a previous marriage Shamsa, then 18, and Latifa against their will.
What did the judge say?
Judge Andrew McFarlane delivered his verdict after a long and costly case.
McFarlane said the sheikh, who is also prime minister and vice president, hacked Princess Haya bint al-Hussein of Jordan, 47, during a "sustained campaign of intimidation and threat."
"The findings represent a total abuse of trust, and indeed an abuse of power to a significant extent," added the High Court judge.
After a March ruling that the sheikh had arranged for both his daughters to be snatched and brought back to Dubai, McFarlane concluded that Mohammed "is prepared to used the arm of the state to achieve what he regards as his right."
The judge added: "He has harassed and intimidated the mother both before her departure to England and since." He concluded the children should live with Haya.
In his ruling, the judge also extended the non-molestation order to stop Mohammed buying property next to Haya's Berkshire estate west of London, after his agents tried to buy a £30 million ($40.76 million, €35.26 million) property that overlooked her home.
How was the plot discovered?
The long, bitter and expensive custody battle started after Princess Haya fled to the UK with her two children Jalila, 13, and Zayed, 9.
She said feared for her safety after being suspected of having an affair with a British bodyguard.
Cherie Blair, wife of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, warned Haya's prominent lawyer Fiona Shackleton that she and Haya had been hacked in August. Cherie Blair, a lawyer, has in the past worked as an external adviser for Pegasus makers NSO.
"During a conversation with the NSO senior manager, I recall asking him whether their client was the big state or the little state, the manager clarified it was the little state which I took to be the state of Dubai," Blair said during the case.
A cyber expert from the University of Toronto's internet watchdog Citizen Lab, who researches digital surveillance, also said Pegasus software was used on Haya's phone after tracking the phone hack.
The hacking was part of a campaign of intimidation that McFarlane said led to the hacking of six phones between July and August 2020.
"It feels like the walls are closing in on me, that I cannot protect the children and that we are not safe anywhere," Haya told the court in a statement. "I feel like I cannot breathe anymore; it feels like being suffocated."
What did NSO have to say?
Once it was uncovered, NSO, the Israeli company that owns the Pegasus spy software, canceled its contract with the United Arab Emirates.
"Whenever a suspicion of a misuse arises, NSO investigates, NSO alerts, NSO terminates," said the company.
NSO has come under fire in recent months for the improper usage of its spy software which is only designed for state actors to be used in national security issues.
The software exploits vulnerabilities on smartphones to capture data, with human rights campaigners, journalists and politicians often among the targets.
"NSO has in place many mechanisms — prior and post any sales process, to minimize the potential for misuse of the technology by our customers," the Pegasus makers said.
The company told the court it had canceled contracts worth up to $300 million over the past year but said recent media reports were "at large flawed and misleading."
How did Sheikh Mohammed defend himself?
After Judge McFarlane announced his verdict, Sheikh Mohammed had his own say on the case.
"I have always denied the allegations made against me and I continue to do so. These matters concern supposed operations of State security," Mohammed said in a statement.
"Neither the Emirate of Dubai nor the UAE are party to these proceedings and they did not participate in the hearing. The findings are therefore inevitably based on an incomplete picture."
He added: "In addition, the findings were based on evidence that was not disclosed to me or my advisers. I therefore maintain that they were made in a manner which was unfair."
During the case, Sheik Mohammed's lawyer, David Pannick had reiterated his client's innocence.
jc/msh, jsi (Reuters, AP, dpa)
Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly stated that Tony Blair worked as an advisor for NSO. This has been updated to reflect that Tony Blair's wife, Cherie, advised NSO.