Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Hacked Wife’s Phone With Pegasus Spyware, London Court Finds

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, hacked the phone of his ex-wife Princess Haya, with whom he was involved in a long-running custody battle, using the controversial Israeli Pegasus spyware from NSO Group, a London court ruled Wednesday. The judgment, which was written in May but only released today because of a series of failed appeals by al-Maktoum, said the surveillance occurred “with the express or implied authority” of the sheikh. The presiding judge wrote: “The findings represent a total abuse of trust, and indeed an abuse of power, to a significant extent.” The court heard that Haya’s phone was repeatedly hacked as divorce proceedings were ongoing. Two of her lawyers’ phones were also hacked. In one submission, Princess Haya said: “It feels as if I am being stalked… It is hugely oppressive… I feel like I cannot breathe any more; it feels like being suffocated. I don’t want the children to live with the kind of fear that punctuates my existence at all times. They do not deserve this.” London courts have previously found al-Maktoum, who is also prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, a key British ally in the Middle East, guilty of organizing the abductions of two of his other children, Princess Latifa and Princess Shamsa.