At 12 noon, the Pegasus committee resumed its meeting. Prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek began her testimony with a free statement.
“I stand here as one of many victims of illegal surveillance,” she said. – On November 23, 2021, I received from the company Apple a warning that my phone was attacked with spyware that gained access to all sensitive data contained in it, she added.
Interrogation of Ewa Wrzosek. The prosecutor reveals the details of the wiretapping on her phone
The investigator said that the Citizen Lab group operating at the University of Toronto informed her in December 2021 that her private device had been infected six times this year. – The actions of the services should be assessed as an abuse of power, exceeding powers and failure to fulfill duties – she said.
– It is unacceptable to initiate operational control for reasons other than those provided for by law for purposes that have nothing to do with prosecuting crimes. I have no doubt that this was the case in my case – she noted and added: – Just as you don’t shoot a sparrow with a cannon, you don’t use the Pegasus system in matters that are trivial or are not prohibited behavior at all.
Ewa Wrzosek also emphasized that Pegasus bypasses all built-in security measures on phones, gives full access to information and can be used to place content that was not there before. Therefore, she stated that she was credited with being the author of messages “appropriately compiled, manipulated and suggesting the existence of an organized criminal group”, although they never came from her.
Ewa Wrzosek: 17 out of 18 official proceedings were initiated against me
During the hearing, the prosecutor said that in recent years, when Bogdan Święczkowski was the national prosecutor, 18 official proceedings were brought in her unit, and 17 of them concerned her.
– I wasn’t even questioned in any of these proceedings. My brother was called to one of them, and I learned about it directly from him. (…) He was not even informed about his right to refuse to testify. The prosecutor who interrogated him told him that he was not entitled to such a right because no charges were brought against me, the witness testified.
When asked whether she believed she was eavesdropped by the services using the Pegasus system in connection with her investigation into the so-called envelope elections, Wrzosek said that she had no knowledge in this regard, although since the investigation was undertaken, the “scale of actions and repressions” that she encountered in her professional life was unexpected for her.
The prosecutor also testified that the hacks on her phone took place from summer to autumn 2021, but despite the analyzes she is unable to say why the services decided to attack her private device at that time. She added that to this day, journalists sympathizing with the right-wing share information on social media proving that they had access to materials collected from the phone.
Pegasus interrogations. Ewa Wrzosek points to Zbigniew Ziobro and Bogdan Święczkowski
Ewa Wrzosek said during the hearing that she had no information on when operational actions were ordered against her and who decided about it. However, as she said, the dates of the hacking of her phone coincided with the period when her “penal delegation at the District Prosecutor’s Office in Śrem” was ending. – Perhaps someone was afraid that I would undertake some type of action or activity after returning to Warsaw, where I returned in August, at the beginning of August 2021 – she noted.
However, she emphasized that she had submitted a formal request for access to the case files, and at the end of September she received consent. – Pursuant to the Code of Criminal Procedure, I am treated as “another person who wants to have insight,” she added. MP Marcin Bosacki (KO) therefore requested that Wrzosek be questioned again after he has read the materials.
Moreover, according to the prosecutor, Deputy Prosecutor General Michał Ostrowski also had access to data contained in the investigation against her, as evidenced by his public statements. – I don’t know who had access to my data, I don’t know where it is. Pegasus does not guarantee the security and confidentiality of data, she said.
– The Pegasus software was acquired in such circumstances that it would remain a secret to citizens and other state authorities. Its use was supposed to be undetectable as a rule (…) and in my opinion, the greatest threat in this case are situations that we do not know about and may never know – how many times and against whom Pegasus was used in a completely informal way – said Ewa Wrzosek.
Envelope elections. Ewa Wrzosek claims that she offended Zbigniew Ziobro and Bogdano Święczkowski
Ewa Wrzosek also assessed that by initiating an investigation into the so-called envelope elections, she “took on the heels of the politicians in power at that time.” – If not to politicians directly, then to people who provided them with a protective umbrella, i.e. national prosecutor Bogdan Święczkowski and prosecutor general Zbigniew Ziobro – she added.
– The prosecutor’s office was taken under the thumb. Independent prosecutors faced automatic repression and it was only the strength of their character that determined whether they would persevere or resign, said the witness, describing the situation in the institution during the rule of Law and Justice.
– In cases in which I acted as the injured party, (…) I was treated as at least a suspected person. This may be an informal term, but I was forcibly demanded to hand over a phone infected with Pegasus when they were sure that the phone would end up in the National Prosecutor’s Office the next day. I have no excuse for the prosecutors who took procedural steps in my case, she added.
Ewa Wrzosek’s interrogation ended after three hours.
Pegasus Commission of Inquiry. Interrogation of Erenst Bejda and prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek
Due to the absence of Ernest Bejda, the commission unanimously adopted a motion to fine him. A new date for the hearing will be set on Tuesday, and if the former head of the CBA fails to appear again, the group will apply for temporary arrest and bring him in for questioning – emphasized Tomasz Trela (Nowa Lewica), deputy head of the team, in an interview with Polsat News.
Proc. Ewa Wrzosek, on the other hand, appeared at the meeting. The prosecutor was called because, according to analyzes by the Canadian group Citizen Lab, she was supposed to be under surveillance by Pegasus. Apart from her, the list of wiretapped people also included current KO MEP Krzysztof Brejza and Deputy Minister of Agriculture Michał Kołodziejczak.
The purpose of the investigative commission is to investigate the legality, regularity and advisability of using Pegasus by the government, secret services and police from November 2015 to November 2023. The investigative group will also prove who is responsible for purchasing this spy system.
Trzaskowski on state defense: We must prepare for every eventuality/Polsat News/Polsat News
