Three CBA officers charged in illegal Pegasus system use case
The National Prosecutor's Office has brought charges against three officials from the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau in connection with unlawful operational surveillance of a lawyer and a public relations professional using the Pegasus system.
Three CBA officers charged in illegal Pegasus system use case
Investigators from the National Prosecutor's Office have brought accusations against three employees of the Warsaw branch of the CBA. The charges relate to unauthorised surveillance conducted using Pegasus software against a lawyer and another person working in the public relations sector.
Among the suspects is Angela P., a specialist from the first operational and investigative department, whom unconfirmed press reports suggest currently manages the entire legal department of the bureau. The others are Jarosław W., former director of the branch, and Katarzyna S., former head of the department. Two of them – Jarosław W. and Katarzyna S. – have already received charges previously, and now further charges have been added.
From materials gathered by prosecutors, it appears that the accused worked together, having agreed on their plan beforehand. The first charge covers exerting influence on the initiation and repeated extension of surveillance of the lawyer, despite the absence of justified grounds to do so. The officers allegedly obtained information from his telephone without court approval, circumventing regulations under the CBA act. Electronic messages, SMS texts and records from iMessage and WhatsApp applications were collected, which constituted a breach of attorney-client privilege.
Additionally, the prosecutor's office accuses them of falsifying facts in documents submitted to obtain approval for the surveillance as well as in official reports. Investigators believe that the accused deliberately concealed previous unauthorised interception and analysis of the lawyer's telephone, thereby misleading the Deputy Prosecutor General and Warsaw judges who issued decisions in this case.
The second charge concerns analogous actions against another person connected to PR. This surveillance too allegedly relied on material obtained unlawfully, without indicating the true source. In this case too, the accused allegedly persuaded the prosecutor's office and court to issue decisions based on manipulated documents.
Hearings were held on Friday. None of the three confessed to the charges and all of them declined to provide statements. Angela P. was ordered to comply with freedom-limiting measures.
The emergence of charges against a person whom the media describe as a trusted associate of the current CBA director may have repercussions for the parliamentary committee investigating the Pegasus case, which is concluding its work. One of its members acknowledged to journalists that cooperation with the bureau's leadership had gone smoothly so far, but the new circumstances raise additional concerns.
Source: Gazeta.pl
Source: Google News PL