Kaczyński, a former prime minister and deputy prime minister, told a panel of MPs on Friday that Poland needed advanced spyware but he had only marginal knowledge of how it was used when his conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party was in power until late last year.
A Polish parliamentary commission last month began investigating claims that the previous government illegally hacked the phones of political opponents using Pegasus spyware.
“As far as Pegasus spyware goes, I was aware that it's a tool for breaking into communication devices, and that Poland needs it, and that other countries also have it,” Kaczyński said on Friday.
But he added he was “not directly interested in the operational activity of the security services.”
He also argued that what he does know is classified and should not be revealed in a public hearing.
The commission's head, Magdalena Sroka, told reporters in mid-February that the MPs wanted to hear witnesses including Kaczyński, who she said should be among the first to appear before the panel in his role as the country's former top decision maker and deputy prime minister in charge of security.
"We know that the most important decisions were made at Kaczyński's office on Warsaw's Nowogrodzka Street, so we want him to testify under oath and tells us what he knows about Pegasus," Sroka said at the time.
During its first meeting on February 19, the panel appointed 15 permanent advisors, adopted a work plan, submitted requests for evidence and voted on a list of potential witnesses, who also include former Prime Minister Beata Szydło, former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro and ex-Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Marcin Bosacki, a commission member representing the governing Civic Coalition (KO) group, said earlier last month that the most prominent politicians from the previously governing Law and Justice party "will have to testify before the commission and explain how the Pegasus spyware was purchased" and "why it was used against political opponents."
Leftist lawmaker Tomasz Trela has said that the inquiry could help uncover "one of the biggest scandals in Poland since 1989."
Pegasus spyware is intended for tracking terrorists and major criminals, the PAP news agency reported.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, AP, polskieradio24.pl
