On Thursday, the broadcaster revealed that the Internal Security Agency (ABW) had submitted court requests to authorize the surveillance, citing suspicions of espionage activity linked to the leaders of the feminist movement.
According to the report, the Warsaw District Court approved the ABW’s request to monitor Suchanow, but denied the application to surveil Lempart. Sources indicate that these requests were made during the height of the mass protests organized by OSK.
Pegasus is a sophisticated surveillance software developed by the Israeli firm NSO Group. It is primarily intended for counterterrorism and combating organized crime, allowing for deep infiltration of smartphones. Once deployed, Pegasus enables authorities to listen to conversations, access emails, photos, videos, and activate the device’s microphone and camera.
Context: feminist protests in Poland
The All-Poland Women’s Strike (Ogólnopolski Strajk Kobiet) is a feminist social movement founded in September 2016 in response to the Polish parliament’s decision to reject the "Save the Women" bill, which proposed liberalizing abortion laws, while advancing a bill to further restrict abortion access.
The movement was behind the organization of the "Black Monday" protests, which took place in 147 cities across Poland, with participation estimates ranging from 98,000 to 200,000 people.
In October 2020, the movement spearheaded widespread and massive demonstrations after a ruling by Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal (under the country’s previous, nationalist-populist government led by the Law and Justice party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość)), which effectively banned almost all forms of abortion, including in cases where the fetus had severe or fatal defects. The protests became a major national movement against the government’s tightening of reproductive rights, with the All-Poland Women’s Strike at the forefront.
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Source: PAP, TVN24