{"id":15848,"date":"2025-03-03T10:54:25","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T09:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iridia.cat\/tres-directivos-de-nso-group-imputados-por-su-responsabilidad-en-el-espionaje-con-pegasus\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T12:25:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T10:25:23","slug":"tres-directivos-de-nso-group-imputados-por-su-responsabilidad-en-el-espionaje-con-pegasus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iridia.cat\/en\/tres-directivos-de-nso-group-imputados-por-su-responsabilidad-en-el-espionaje-con-pegasus\/","title":{"rendered":"Three NSO Group executives charged for their responsibility in the Pegasus spyware case"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Provincial Court (Audiencia Provincial) sides with Ir\u00eddia and orders the charging of three executives of the NSO Group corporate network, who will be investigated for the alleged crime of discovery and disclosure of secrets.<\/p>\n

This ruling comes after the investigating judge of Court of Instruction No. 24 refused to charge them, limiting the criminal investigation to the manufacturing and marketing companies only. The decision sets a key precedent in the fight against spyware espionage in Europe and is a major step forward in the investigation, as it means the executives will have to answer personally before the courts.<\/p>\n

The ruling also comes at a time when there is increasing evidence of the responsibility of the company behind Pegasus in the infection process.<\/p>\n

Who are the accused?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The suspects under investigation are Shalev Hulio, Omri Lavie and Yuval Somekh, who held positions of responsibility at NSO Group Technologies Limited, OSY Technologies and Q Cyber Technologies (based in the European Union, in Luxembourg) during the years in which the events under investigation took place (2019-2020), when the lawyer Andreu Van den Eynde was allegedly spied on with Pegasus software.<\/p>\n

This is the first time that NSO Group executives have been directly charged, confirming their involvement in the operational decisions of the companies operating in Luxembourg and Israel. It was made possible by a corporate and economic expert report on NSO Group’s business network, submitted to the proceedings by Ir\u00eddia.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Omri Lavie:<\/strong> Founder of NSO Group and member of the board of directors of the Israeli company. He sat on the board of OSY Technologies between 2019 and 2023.<\/li>\n
  2. Shalev Hulio:<\/strong> Founder and CEO of NSO Group until 2022. He was a member of the board of directors of Q Cyber Technologies (2019-2022) and of OSY Technologies until 2023.<\/li>\n
  3. Yuval Somekh:<\/strong> Executive at Q Cyber Technologies from 2016 to 2021 and member of the board of directors of OSY Technologies between 2019 and 2020.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    With this ruling, the criminal investigation is extended to the three executives, which will entail taking their statements before the court and requesting additional documentation.<\/p>\n

    The role of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in obstructing the investigation<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The Provincial Court’s order also exposes the role of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which has repeatedly tried to block the extension of the complaint.<\/p>\n

    The cybercrime prosecutor opposed extending the investigation, even though the European Parliament’s PEGA Committee and the Council of Europe’s PACE have insisted on the need to thoroughly clarify the Pegasus espionage cases.<\/p>\n

    The Court stresses that the position of the investigating judge and the prosecutor in refusing to admit the extension of the complaint was “inconsistent with the current state of the proceedings,” and that “it is entirely logical to extend the charges to the individuals who have been shown to have made the decisions within these companies.”<\/p>\n

    This attitude of the Public Prosecutor’s Office adds to the silence and lack of cooperation of the Spanish State in this case.<\/p>\n

    What happens next?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    With this charging decision, the NSO Group executives will for the first time be formally notified as suspects in a criminal proceeding.<\/p>\n

    Ir\u00eddia urges the Luxembourg authorities to actively cooperate in the investigation and to promote a European Investigation Order (EIO) to clarify the facts reported.<\/p>\n

    In addition, the judge’s decision is awaited on the possible charging of the former director of the National Intelligence Centre (CNI), Paz Esteban, for her alleged responsibility in the Pegasus espionage in this case.<\/p>\n

    Today, Monday, 3 March, a parliamentary hearing of PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) will be held on the topic “Pegasus and similar spyware and secret State surveillance.”<\/p>\n