52-year-old Hanan Elatr, the wife of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi intends to file a lawsuit in the United States against NSO Group, alleging that the Israeli company’s Pegasus spyware was used to hack into her mobile phone.
Hanan Elatr also intends to sue Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for their alleged involvement in installing the software on her phone.
NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware reportedly has the ability to turn a phone into a surveillance device, with microphones and cameras activated without the user’s knowledge.
“It is important to make everyone involved in this horrible crime accountable. My husband was a peaceful man. I believe in American justice,” Elatr was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
As for the lawsuit, Elatr now wants to obtain all of Khashoggi’s electronic devices that appear to be owned by Turkish authorities.
As per a report, Agnes Callamard, the former UN official who investigated the murder as a special rapporteur for extrajudicial killings, supports Elatr in her efforts to gather evidence.
Who was Jamal Khashoggi and why was he murdered?
59-year-old Jamal Khashoggi was a journalist based in the United States, and an outspoken critic of the Saudi regime, and wrote several articles critical of Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Washington Post.
On October 2, 2018, the ambassador of Saudi Arabia ordered Khashoggi to go to the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul to receive some documents for his upcoming marriage to Elatr.
Agents of the Saudi government killed Khashoggi inside the consulate and apparently dismembered his body, which has never been found. Saudi Arabia charged eleven people with the murder and brought them to a trial that was held in secret. So far, no one has been convicted.
The four-page American intelligence report, issued by Biden’s director of national intelligence, Avril D Haines, made public the assessment that the Saudi crown prince approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The intelligence report concluded that Khashoggi was seen as a threat and the Saudi prince “widely endorsed the use of violent measures if necessary to silence him.”
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in an interview with the CBS 60 Minutes program that was aired on September 29, 2019, that he bears “full responsibility” for the horrific murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but denied allegations that he ordered it.
