By Lucy Caulkett-
The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, interfered with British justice by ordering the hacking of the phone of his ex-wife, Princess Haya of Jordan.
The phones of her solicitors, Baroness Fiona Shackleton QC and Nick Manners, were also targeted during their divorce custody case, according to the court.
Princess Haya’s legal team said: “there is a powerful objective case as to why the mother should be genuinely in fear if the father has access to a property overbearing her own”.
Sheikh Mohammed denied any knowledge of the hacking, but the legal team of his ex wife said the hacking took place with his “express or implied authority”.
He said the court’s findings were based on evidence that was not disclosed to him, and that they were “made in a manner which was unfair”.
The High Court judgments, published on Wednesday , described the hacking as “serial breaches of (UK) domestic criminal law”, “in violation of fundamental common law and ECHR rights”, “interference with the process of this court and the mother’s access to justice” and “abuse of power” by a head of government.
The president of the Family Division of the High Court found that “the mobile phones of the mother (Princess Haya), two of her solicitors, her personal assistant and two members of her security staff had been the subject of either successful or attempted infiltration by surveillance software. The software used is called Pegasus software and was that of an Israeli company, the NSO Group.”
The court found that the surveillance was carried out “by servants or agents of the father (Sheikh Mohammed), the Emirate of Dubai or the [United Arab Emirates] and that the surveillance occurred with the express or implied authority of the father”.
NSO’s Pegasus software, often referred to as “spyware”, is able to track the location of the individual using the phone, read their SMS messages, emails and messages in other apps, as well as eavesdrop on their phone calls and access their contact list, passwords, calendar dates and photographs.
The president of the court concluded that “in relation to the mother (Princess Haya), it is clear that the [hacking] attempt succeeded with a very substantial amount of data (265MB) being covertly extracted from her phone”.
Sheikh Mohammed denied any knowledge of the hacking and said he did not instruct anyone to use NSO “or any software in this way”. His legal team said he was not prepared to enter into any debate in relation to what security systems the UAE might have.
Expert Technology Witness
The allegations against Dubai’s ruler were corroborated by an expert technology witness, Dr William Marczak, from California, who is also a senior research fellow at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, which researches digital surveillance.
He told the court he had no doubt the phones were hacked using NSO’s Pegasus software. He also concluded “with high confidence” that the phones were hacked by a single operator in a nation state. He concluded with medium confidence that it was most unlikely to be any state other than the UAE.
Call By Cherie Blair
Princess Haya’s legal team first became aware that they had been hacked after an urgent phone call made by Cherie Blair QC, the wife of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, to Baroness Shackleton. Mrs Blair acts as an adviser to NSO Group on business and human rights related issues.
Cheerie Blair was allegedly targeted by Hackers Image: Getty Images
A senior member of NSO’s management team called Mrs Blair from Israel on 5 August 2020 to inform her that “it had come to their attention that their software may have been misused to monitor the mobile phones of Baroness Shackleton and HRH Princess Haya”. targeted
The NSO staff member then told Mrs Blair that those phones could no longer be accessed using NSO software and they asked for her help in contacting Baroness Shackleton.
First class divorce lawyer Baroness Fiona Shackleton, was targeted by hackers Image: Phb.co.uk
NSO, which has previously been accused by human rights groups of enabling autocratic states to carry out intrusive surveillance of dissidents and journalists, has insisted in public statements that it only supplied its spyware to enable governments to counter criminals and terrorists.
NSO is believed to have terminated its contract with the UAE.
Timing
The hack took place during a critical phase in Sheikh Mohammed and Princess Haya’s divorce custody case at the High Court in the summer of last year.
Princess Haya’s legal team told the court that “the mother has been living in fear of her life frankly, and in fear of the children’s security since April of [2019]”.
The court also heard how Sheikh Mohammed had attempted to buy a property in Surrey, Parkwood Estate, so close to his ex-wife’s home at Castlewood, that “if anyone chose to use it, it is in prime position for direct or electronic surveillance”.
Princess Haya, a daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan fled Dubai in 2019 for Britain along with her two children , following the realisation that her husband had ordered the abduction of Sheikha Latifa and Sheikha Shamsa.
She claims to have received threatening messages from agents of her former husband.
Her legal team have accused agents of the Emirate of Dubai of acting on his behalf in hacking the phones of Princess Haya, her solicitors, Baroness Shackleton and Nick Manners, as well as her personal assistant and two members of her security staff.
The hacking took place in July and August 2020 “at a time of significant events” in the court proceedings when hearings were taking place over the welfare of the children.
The judgment concluded that “the allegations of hacking came before the court at a time when it had already made very serious findings against the father”.
The revelations at the High Court are very damning for the ruler of Dubai, who is stupendously wealthy and extremely powerful in his country.
His powers do not extend to influencing the court’s judgement and assessment of the lengths he has gone to stalk his ex-wife, and make life uncomfortable for her.