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

London judge orders Saudi Arabia to pay satirist £3M after hacking phones and physical attack with Pegasus spyware.

Jan 29, 2026

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A London judge ordered Saudi Arabia to pay over £3 million to satirist Ghanem al-Masarir after ruling the kingdom hacked his phones with Pegasus spyware and orchestrated a 2018 physical attack outside Harrods. Judge Pushpinder Saini found Saudi Arabia responsible for "grossly intrusive" surveillance that turned al-Masarir's smartphones into "bugging devices," secretly transmitting his personal data to the hostile state.

Al-Masarir, whose YouTube channels have 300 million views, still suffers severe depression seven years later and rarely leaves home. Saudi Arabia failed to defend the case after losing immunity arguments. The ruling represents a rare legal victory against the kingdom's transnational repression tactics.

Source: The Guardian

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