WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's prosecutor general told the parliament on Wednesday that powerful Pegasus spyware was used against hundreds of people during the former government in Poland, among them elected officials.
Adam Bodnar told lawmakers that he found the scale of the surveillance “shocking and depressing.”
“It is sad for me that even in this room I am speaking to people who were victims of this system,” Bodnar told the Sejm, the lower house of parliament.
Bodnar, who is also the justice minister, didn't specify who exactly was subject to surveillance by the spyware. His office said the information was confidential.
Bodnar was presenting information that the prosecutor general's office sent last week to the Sejm and Senate. The data showed that Pegasus was used in the cases of 578 people from 2017 to 2022, and that it was used by three separate government agencies: the Central Anticorruption Bureau, the Military Counterintelligence Service and the Internal Security Agency.
The data show that it was used against six people in 2017; 100 in 2018; 140 in 2019; 161 in 2020; 162 in 2021; and then nine in 2022, when it stopped.
The Associated Press broke the news of the former governments' abuse of Pegasus in December 2021, based on forensics by the University of Toronto's online watchdog Citizen Lab.
Bodnar said that the software generated “enormous knowledge” about the “private and professional lives” of those put under surveillance. He also stressed that the Polish state doesn't have full control over the data that is gathered because the system operates on the basis of a license that was granted by an Israeli company. He said ”the use of this type of method must raise serious doubts from the point of view of the protection of constitutional rights."
Pegasus, produced by Israel's the NSO Group, has been sold to governments and is described as a tool to fight criminals and terrorists. However, evidence has emerged of governments using it against political opponents, journalists and human rights workers.
The Biden administration, concerned about the potential of the technology for abuse, blacklisted the NSO Group in 2021, barring it from access to U.S. technology. This year it went further and imposed visa restrictions on foreign individuals involved in the misuse of commercial spyware.
Pegasus gives its operators complete access to a mobile device, allowing them to extract passwords, photos, messages, contacts and browsing history and activate the microphone and camera for real-time eavesdropping.
Its use in Poland under the previous government, led by the Law and Justice party, resulted in accusations that the authorities were abusing power and eroding democratic guardrails.
Investigations into the use of the powerful spyware were launched after Prime Minister Donald Tusk took office in December as the head of a three-party pro-European Union coalition.
The investigations into Pegasus use are part of a larger effort by Tusk and Bodnar to restore democratic norms that they believe were eroded by the Law and Justice government, which held power from 2015 to 2023.
“The use of Pegasus over these few years has poisoned the essence of democracy in Poland,” Marcin Bosacki, a lawmaker with Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition, told lawmakers after Bodnar's presentation.
Jarosław Kaczyński, the head of Law and Justice, said last month during testimony to an investigative commission that the “use of Pegasus was in accordance with the law,” and that in 99% of the cases it was used against criminals.
The minister currently in charge of the security services, Tomasz Siemoniak, said earlier this month in an interview on the private broadcaster TVN24 that while the use of Pegasus in Poland was “justified” in some cases of suspected terrorism and for counterintelligence use, in “too many cases” it wasn't justified.
Siemoniak said the unjustified use of the software resulted in Poland losing its license for using it.
Bodnar is also working to address the issue of judicial independence after the previous government overhauled the justice system to gain more control over courts.
The practices of Law and Justice prompted the European Union to withhold billions of euros in funding — money that is now flowing after a change of government.
FILE - Human rights lawyer Adam Bodnar hands out flyers to morning commuters as he runs in his first election, for a seat in the Senate with the opposition Civic Coalition, in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2023. Poland's prosecutor general told the parliament on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, that powerful Pegasus spyware was used against hundreds of people under the former government in Poland, among them elected officials. Adam Bodnar told the lawmakers that speaking as both a citizen and as prosecutor general, he found the scale of the surveillance to be “shocking and depressing.” (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kyle Larson came roaring around the outside of Chris Buescher on the final lap at Kansas Speedway, banging doors with him all the way to the finish line, only to be told by his team over the radio that everything he had given was not quite enough.
It wasn't until Larson was in Turn 3 of the cool-down lap that he saw his spotter, Tyler Monn, dancing high above the track.
In the closest finish in NASCAR history, one that only became official with a grainy black-and-white photo at the line, the No. 5 car was declared the winner by a thousandth of a second — every bit as close as the Kentucky Derby a day earlier, and an even more dramatic finish than the three-at-the-line conclusion to the Cup Series race at Atlanta earlier this season.
“Had no clue if I won or not," Larson said, "but honestly didn't really care. I was like, ‘Man, that was frickin' awesome.'”
Not so awesome for Buescher's team, which had begun celebrating before the result became official. His crew chief, Scott Graves, asked to meet with NASCAR officials in their hauler. Shown the finish-line photo, he accepted the outcome.
“I don’t know what to say right now,” Buescher said, shaking his head while standing beside his No. 17 car. “I haven’t seen a replay other than just the picture, and I sure can’t see in that picture. That sucks to be that close.”
The edge-of-your-seat finish came after a caution for Kyle Busch's spin forced the green-white-checkered finish. Larson had pulled behind Buescher on the backstretch of the last lap, then came around him in the final corner. To the naked eye, Buescher looked as if he had edged ahead, and even Larson had started to congratulate his team on a strong second-place run.
A few minutes later, he was doing a celebratory burnout on the front stretch.
It was a brilliant start to a busy month of May for Larson, who will attempt to run the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day Memorial Day weekend. The win was his second of the season for Hendrick Motorsports, and it gave him a bit of retribution after finishing second to Denny Hamlin last week at Dover and in the spring race at Kansas a year ago.
Martin Truex Jr. finished fourth Sunday and Hamlin, who had the lead on the final restart, faded back to fifth place.
“Had a great view of the finish,” Hamlin said with a smile.
Making the finish an even bigger bummer for Buescher was the fact that he had overcome a big miscue midway through the race. He had just won the second stage and led the field to pit road when a crew member came over the wall early. The penalty sent him to the rear, and Buescher had to spend much of the final stage working his way back to the front.
Ultimately, Buescher's team opted for a different pit strategy than the other leaders. So did Hamlin's team, which had survived its own share of pit problems. And it might have worked out for both of them had the race finished under green.
Instead, the late caution forced the leaders to pit, and set up a finish that went down in NASCAR history.
“I mean, I'll always remember this, for sure," Larson said. "There's definitely wins that you can kind of get lost in the distance a little bit, but when you finish and have the closest finish in Cup Series history, I don't think you're ever going to forget about it, even if it gets broken someday. Great to be on this side of it.”
BEST OF THE REST
Christopher Bell started on the pole but struggled to run up front all day in a race that began after a 3 1/2-hour rain delay. He finished sixth, and was followed by Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch, whose spin brought out the last caution. Noah Gragson and Michael McDowell joined Buescher in giving Ford, which has yet to win this season, three cars in the top 10.
YELLOW FLAGS
There were no cautions other than for stage breaks until Jimmie Johnson wrecked with 91 laps to go. The seven-time champion, back in the No. 84 for the second consecutive week, was hit from behind by Corey LaJoie after he had checked up.
“Just trying to set up for the corner, I got a little help from behind and just kind of hanging on from there,” Johnson said.
The yellow flags then came in quickly: Hamlin made contact with Austin Cindric, sending the No. 2 into a wreck that spun out Bubba Wallace and McDowell. Harrison Burton wrecked on the restart, then Joey Logano did on the next one.
ODDS AND ENDS
Corey Heim, who won the Truck Series race Saturday night, finished 22nd while subbing for Erik Jones in the No. 43 car for Legacy Motor Club. ... Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was 16th in his first race since signing a contract extension with JTG Daugherty Racing. He also did it after going for a wild ride in his sprint car Saturday night at nearby Lakeside Speedway. ... Gragson has had strong back-to-back weeks after finishing sixth at Dover. ... The series heads to Darlington next for its annual throwback weekend.
AP NASCAR: https://apnews.com/hub/nascar-racing
Multiple racers wreck coming out of Turn 3 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
Joey Logano (22) spins out after hitting the wall in Turn 4 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
Kyle Larson, center, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
Ross Chastain, left, along with other drivers and crews stand along pit road during the playing of the National Anthem before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
Kyle Larson climbs into his car before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
NASCAR Cup Series points leader Kyle Larson, center, walks to a track meeting as rain falls before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
Kyle Larson (5) crosses the finish line milliseconds in front of Chris Buescher (17) for the win during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
Ross Chastain waits along pit road as drivers prepare for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
Kyle Larson, center, visits with his pit crew along pit road before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
Water pools near the garage area as rain delays a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
Racers head toward Turn 1 at the start of a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
