Former prime minister Kaczyński says Poland needed spyware but he wasn’t interested in the details

By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA
Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Former Polish prime minister Jarosław Kaczyński has told a special parliamentary committee that he believes Poland needed advanced spyware but he wasn’t interested in how or against whom it was used. Kaczyński testified Friday about the purchase and allegedly illegal use of spyware by the government headed by his Law and Justice party. The NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware was used to spy on mobile devices belonging to opponents of the government, and allegedly also to eavesdrop on some members of his right-wing party. The revelations, first reported by The Associated Press in 2021, shocked Poland and added to the European Union’s concerns that the Law and Justice government was undermining the rule of law.