Dorota Brejza, a lawyer, said the stolen data included sensitive information such as health records, location history, internet search activity and banking passwords.
Her testimony underscores the larger debate over the misuse of Pegasus spyware in Poland, by agencies of the former Law and Justice (PiS) government.
The scandal has drawn criticism from both domestic and international watchdogs, including the European Parliament’s PEGA committee.
Critics argue that the tool, designed for safeguarding national security, was improperly used to target political opponents, raising concerns about democratic backsliding in the country.
Dorota Brejza's testimony shed light on an alleged campaign of surveillance and harassment aimed at her husband, who at the time serving as the head of the then opposition party’s election campaign that year.
According to her testimony, the breach was first discovered in August 2019 when state-run television outlet TVP Info published private messages from Krzysztof Brejza’s phone.
A forensic investigation by the research organization Citizen Lab confirmed that his phone had been infected with Pegasus spyware multiple times between April and October 2019, shortly before the national elections.
Initially, the infections occurred through targeted phishing messages that appeared to come from contacts familiar to her husband.
By July 2019, the spyware was able to infiltrate the phone without any interaction from the user, Dorota Brejza said.
In total, 85,000 messages were stolen from Krzysztof Brejza’s phone, spanning several years, and included exchanges on various messaging platforms and emails, according to his wife.
"The surveillance extended beyond my husband to everyone with whom he communicated," Dorota Brejza said, claiming that the entire opposition at the time, led by the Civic Coalition group, was indirectly affected.
She described "the espionage" as "total surveillance" and condemned the publication of the stolen messages, calling it “vile.”
Dorota Brejza argued that the use of Pegasus was politically motivated, saying that the spyware was deployed under the pretext of investigating a local government fraud case in Inowrocław, where Krzysztof Brejza’s father, Ryszard Brejza, served as mayor.
The lawyer told the parliamentary commission that her husband had no involvement in the case. Instead, she accused the former government of using Pegasus to unfairly target opposition politicians.
"Pegasus wasn't used against the actual perpetrators of the fraud; instead, politicians like my husband were under surveillance," she said, criticizing "the absurdity of the situation."
She also highlighted the strain the situation placed on her family, saying that the media campaign initiated by TVP Info led to threats against her family, including their children, necessitating police protection for several weeks.
During her testimony, Dorota Brejza expressed concern over the whereabouts of the stolen data, telling the panel that, due to a lack of oversight, no one knows what has become of the information gathered through Pegasus
“These materials could now be circulating globally, accessible to various intelligence agencies, not just Polish ones," she warned.
Dorota Brejza also referenced a lawsuit she and her husband filed against Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the then-ruling PiS party, after he publicly justified the use of Pegasus to monitor her husband.
Poland's conservative leader Jarosław Kaczyński testifies before a special parliamentary commission amid claims that the previous government illegally hacked the phones of political opponents using Pegasus spyware; March 15, 2024. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak
A government commission inquiry is ongoing. Several hundred prominent individuals are alleged to have been targeted by PiS through the use of Pegasus.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP