Bahrain loses appeal in spyware case involving British dissidents

Bahrain cannot claim state immunity to stop a lawsuit brought by two British dissidents who allege Manama used spyware on their laptops, London’s Court of Appeal ruled on Friday.

In his ruling, Judge Stephen Males said that “a foreign state hacking into a computer located in the United Kingdom harms the territorial sovereignty of the United Kingdom, even if some of the acts in question take place abroad.”

Saeed Shehabi, a leading Bahraini opposition figure, and Moosa Mohammed, a pro-democracy activist and photojournalist, say their computers were infected in September 2011 with surveillance software called FinSpy.

The software can record every keystroke, voice call, email and browsing history, and can record live audio from a device’s microphone and camera.

The men believe the infections, which occurred months after anti-government protests in Bahrain began when they were in contact with other activists, journalists and political prisoners, were “carried out, directed, authorized or caused” by the government or its agents.

Bahrain, which denies hacking Shehabi and Mohammed’s laptops, failed to claim state immunity in the Supreme Court last year.

‘Clear message’

Mohammed said Friday that he is waiting for the day when “the Bahraini regime will appear in court in this case for hacking into my electronic devices.”

“They thought they could get away with any crime because they had tortured me since I was 14,” he said.

“This case sets an important precedent for others, showing that hope for justice is possible… It will send a clear message – not just to the Bahraini regime, but to any government spying on dissidents on British soil.”

Ida Aduwa, a senior lawyer at British law firm Leigh Day, said the ruling was not only an important victory for her clients but also “a crucial step towards accountability for states involved in transnational repression.”

“This considered and detailed ruling sets an important precedent and will provide greater protection for dissidents living in Britain who are targeted by the states whose deplorable actions they seek to combat,” she said.

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), said the case – the first state immunity case in Britain to reach this stage – “is a significant blow to the Bahraini regime ” was.

“They can no longer hack into dissidents’ devices on British soil without facing consequences,” Alwadaei said.

“Bahrain cannot claim to be injecting £1 billion into British business and at the same time committing hacking crimes against its dissidents on British soil.”

Alwadaei said he hoped progress in the case would provide hope for “many other victims of hacking, demonstrating that there is a legal route to holding abusive governments to account.”

The Bahraini government did not respond to a request for comment.