Judge Szulewicz issued permission to use Pegasus. Stood before the investigation commission

On Monday, the parliamentary commission of Pegasus questioned on Monday a judge of the District Court in Warsaw Ireneusz Szulewicz, who took part in issuing consents for the use of a spy system. He estimated that judges should have better tools to control cases conducted by the services.

Hearing of Judge Szulewicz as a witness took place at the Monday meeting of the Commission; The questions asked to him concerned primarily the consent issued by the District Court in Warsaw for operational use in specific matters of the Pegasus system. According to the procedure, the applications of the services for its application were – after prior assessment by the prosecutor's office – to the District Court in Warsaw.

Answering the Commission's questions, Judge Szulewicz admitted that the procedure for granting consents to the use of Pegasus should be changed in several places. He pointed out, among others for the need for greater control of this type of matters on the part of judges. Currently, as he said, the judges that give permission to apply by Pegasus or other system the later they do not have sufficient access to operational materials, and thus – they are not able to control such matters.

As Judge Szulewicz noted, Matters related to service operations are a great burden for SO judges in Warsaw, which is why in his opinion, district courts throughout the country should also deal with them. The judge suggested that special cells could have been created in them that would issue consents for the services and then the control of operational activities carried out by the services.

The PEGASUS inquiry commission examines the legality, correctness and purposefulness of activities undertaken using this software, including By the government, special services and the police from November 2015 to November 2023, the Commission is also to determine who was responsible for the purchase of Pegasus and similar tools for Polish authorities. According to information provided so far, including By NIK, Pegasus was purchased for the CBA in autumn 2017- this purchase was financed in the main part (PLN 25 million) from the Justice Fund.

Pegasus is a system that was created by the Israeli company NSO Group to fight terrorism and organized crime. With the help of Pegasus, you can not only eavesdrop on conversations from the “infected” smartphone, but also access to other data stored in it, e.g. emails, photos or video recordings, as well as cameras and microphones. Interrogated in April last year Mariusz Kamiński, head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration in the times examined by the Commission, assured that each case of using this software obtained the consent of the Court. (PAP)

MML/UGW