Saudi Arabia Ordered to Pay £3m to London Dissident Over Pegasus Spying

Citizen Lab senior researcher Bill Marczak served as a key witness in a UK ruling that ordered Saudi Arabia to pay £3m to a London dissident who was targeted with Pegasus spyware.

In 2018, Citizen Lab researchers discovered that a Saudi operator called KINGDOM was targeting dissidents abroad with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. Saudi activist and political YouTuber Ghanem Al-Masarir was among those sent messages that contained links to KINGDOM, and his phone was subsequently infected. Al-Masarir sued the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for damages, claiming psychological harm and loss of earnings. 

In January 2026, Al-Masarir was awarded £3m in damages, including injury, associated costs, and lost earnings due to being targeted with spyware and physically assaulted by Saudi Arabian agents. Senior researcher Bill Marczak served as a witness, providing evidence and expertise. In the initial 2022 hearing of the Al-Masarir case, the presiding judge observed that “Dr Marczak’s qualifications and expertise are impeccable. In my judgment, his evidence demonstrates to the requisite standard that the Claimant’s iPhones were infected with spyware, and that the Defendant and/or those for whom it was vicariously liable, were responsible.”

Marczak was also described as an “impressive witness” in an earlier family court case concerning the use of Pegasus.

Speaking with the Guardian, Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert says, “For years, victims of targeted espionage and transnational repression have lacked an avenue for justice. Thankfully, the United Kingdom’s courts have just provided such an avenue. We applaud the judgment wholeheartedly.”

“Ghanem’s experiences mirror those experienced by citizens the world over – being targeted by autocratic governments armed with sophisticated mercenary spyware tools whose aim is to hack, track and ultimately silence their voices.”