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Jamal Khashoggi's wife to sue Israeli NSO Group, Saudi Arabia, UAE for alleged surveillance

Hanan Elatr claims Saudi Arabia and the UAE were involved in installing the NSO Group's notorious software on her phone.
2 min read
23 September, 2022
Elatr reportedly wedded Khashoggi months before his murder [Getty]

The wife of slain Saudi journalist Ìýhas said that she is planning to sueÌýthe Israeli spyware firm , alleging that she was targeted with its notorious .

Hanan Elatr also intends to sue Saudi Arabia and the UAE for their alleged involvement inÌýinstallingÌýit on her mobile phone, The Guardian reported on Thursday.

A joint investigation by the British daily and its partners at the Pegasus Project revealed evidence last year that an NSO client targeted Elatr between November 2017 and April 2018, months before herÌýhusband was dismembered by a hit squad at the Saudi consulateÌýin Istanbul.

"It is important to make everyone involved in this horrible crime accountable. My husband was a peaceful man. I believe in American justice,"ÌýElatr was quoted by The Guardian as saying.

The widow - who reportedly wedded Khashoggi months before his death – wants to retrieve two mobile phones, an iPad and a laptop owned by him that are believed to be held by Turkish authorities, in the hopes they will help with her case.

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NSO Group have rejected claims of involvement in Khashoggi's and Elatr's case andÌýsay theirÌýsoftware is only sold to government agencies to target criminals and terrorists.

"NSO has repeatedly stated that our technology was not associated in any way with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi or any of his family members, including Hanan Elatr," an NSO Group spokesman was quoted by The Guardian as saying.

Saudi Arabia and theÌýUnited Arab EmiratesÌýhave also previously dismissed allegations they used Israeli-supplied Pegasus malware to spy on journalists and humanÌýrights activists.

However, in April 2018 while she was in UAE custody, the Washington Post revealed last year. Installation of the spyware appeared to have been successful, but this couldÌýnot be confirmed by the American outlet.

Pegasus was at the centre of a scandal last year after a list was made public of about 50,000 potential surveillance targets worldwide, including journalists, politicians, lawyers and dissidents.

The spyware gives hackers access to a phone’s entire contents, including its camera and microphone.

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