Andrew MacAskill, Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters] – Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, ordered that the phones of his ex-wife as well as her lawyers were hacked during a “sustained camp of intimidation and threat” in the custody dispute over the children. The High Court of England has ruled.

According to rulings, Mohammed used NSO’s sophisticated Pegasus software to hack Princess Haya bint Al-Hussein’s phone and those of her close relatives.

Haya was also intimidated by his associates when they tried to purchase a house next to her estate. The court ordered that she felt “unsafe” and unsafe.

The latest rulings come 19 months after the court concluded that Mohammed had abducted https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-dubai-court-idUSKBN20S23H two of his daughters, mistreated them and held them against their will.

In his ruling, Judge Andrew McFarlane of England and Wales’ Family Division stated that the findings were a complete abuse of trust and a substantial abuse of power.

He had dismissed the hacking accusations and his lawyers suggested that hackers could also have come from other Middle East countries.

David Pannick was Pannick’s attorney and stated that he had no information about the activity. He hasn’t authorized it, nor instructed, encouraged, or in any manner suggested that any other person use NSO software or this method.

Haya (47) and Mohammed (72) have been locked in a bitter custody dispute since Haya fled to Britain, along with Jalila (12), and Zayed (10). According to her, she was concerned for her safety due to suspicions she may have been having an affair with one British guard.

Haya’s lawyer Fiona Shackleton (a member of Britain’s House of Lords) was among those who were targeted in the hacking. Fiona Shackleton represented Prince Charles’ British heir-tothe-throne during his divorce proceedings from Princess Diana.

In August 2012, Shackleton’s activity was discovered by Cherie Blair who was the wife of Tony Blair and was tipped off to Shackleton that Haya and her were being hacked. The court was then told.

Blair, a well-known lawyer, was an external advisor to NSO.

The court was also told that Haya’s lawyer had been alerted by Citizen Lab (an internet watchdog at the University of Toronto) after he detected the hacking.

Haya’s lawyers announced that NSO had cancelled its UAE contract once the hacking was exposed. Although the Israeli company said that it couldn’t comment immediately on the matter, it said it would take action if there was evidence of misuse or fraud with Pegasus.

Blair and Shackleton declined to comment.

Mohammed is widely credited with the rise of Dubai to a major global economic hub. His efforts to improve the reputation of Dubai on human rights and equality issues have been lauded by many.

    There is no indication that last year’s ruling caused any major damage to him personally or to the UAE. Britain and the UAE have announced last month a “new and ambitious Partnership for the Future”, which will include billions of dollars in investments and trade.

EXPENSIVE, LONG BATTLE

After a year-long hearing, reporting restrictions regarding McFarlane’s findings were removed on Wednesday.

The British-educated princess stated in one witness testimony that “I don’t feel I can go freely forward as it stands now”, while she felt hunted and forced to watch her shoulder every second of the day.

Legal costs for the case amount to millions of pounds. The case involved some of Britain’s most prominent attorneys. According to the court, 2.5 million pounds was spent on one appeal.

Vice president and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, the sheikh initially wanted to bring the children back to Dubai. However, he has been repeatedly defeated in English courts.

McFarlane released a Wednesday judgment stating that the children must live with their mother.

A ruling was published in March by the judge stating that Mohammed intimidated Haya and made Haya fear for her safety.

He believed that the sheikh had planned for Shamsa’s kidnapping in 2000 from the streets of Cambridge, central England. Then Shamsa was flown to Dubai.

The judge also found it was proved that Mohammed had arranged for Shamsa’s younger sister Latifa to be snatched https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-dubai-court-escape-idUKKBN20S241 from a boat in international waters off India by Indian forces in 2018 and returned to the emirate.

McFarlane has concluded that the allegations were proved to be true on the balance, but it does not mean McFarlane can make any decisions about his future relationships with his children.

He stated that the UAE’s father is willing to take advantage of the state’s arm to attain what he considers right, as the facts have shown.

“He intimidated and harassed her mother, both before she fled to England and thereafter.” He’s willing to allow those who act on his behalf in the UK doing this illegally.

FRIENDS WITH A QUEEN

Haya’s lawyers informed the court that they had received information from the British Foreign Office about the hacking accusations and that police wanted to speak with Haya as well as her lawyers. Reuters couldn’t confirm if it took place.

Police and the foreign ministry did not comment immediately.

The UAE’s cybersecurity activities have been under surveillance before. The U.S. Intelligence Service (USI) has revealed that three ex-intelligence operatives from the UAE admitted violating U.S. hacking laws. They were working as cyber spies for journalists and human rights activists.

Mohammed’s powerful team of lawyers struggled for months against the court to block its consideration of the hacking allegations. First, they claimed that it was out-of-control and that he didn’t have immunity. Then, they tried to convince the judge the sheikh wasn’t responsible.

According to his legal team, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are just two examples of countries that might have played a role in the attack.

McFarlane rejected these suggestions and said that the suggestion it might be Jordan was “so small as to not have any consequence”.

“He has not shown any concern for his mother’s safety, but rather he has assembled an impressive forensic team to counter the mother’s findings and fight the case against her at every stage.”

McFarlane and the Court of Appeal both concluded that McFarlane had authorized the hacking of six smartphones between July 2020 and August 2020, when an Apple (NASDAQ) vulnerability was exploited.

Expert cyber analysis showed that Haya uploaded 265 Megabytes of data from her phone once, which is equivalent to 24 hours voice recording and 500 photos.

We don’t know how much information and exactly what kind of data she received from the other phones.

Haya and Mohammed are both fixtures in British high society and have enjoyed friendship with Queen Elizabeth and other members of British royalty.

Through the Godolphin stable he established, the sheikh is an important player in British horse racing. This year, Adayar was the winner of the Epsom Derby flat race.

McFarlane extended also the terms of an earlier non-molestation ordonnance, that prohibited the sheikh’s purchase of any property or land near her Berkshire estate, west London. This was after McFarlane’s agents attempted to purchase a 30 million pound home which overlooked McFarlane’s house.

Haya said in a statement that “It feels as if the walls are closing on me”, that they cannot protect my children, and that there is no safety anywhere. It feels as if I’m unable to breathe; it is like being trapped.