British court dismisses Bahrain’s bid to block activists’ spyware lawsuit

Ruling establishes that countries using spyware on people in the UK can be sued.Published On 27 Jul 202627 Jul 2026Britain’s Supreme Court has dismissed a bid by Bahrain to claim state immunity to close down a spyware lawsuit filed by two dissidents.The ruling, handed down on Monday by a narrow 3-2 majority, sets a significant precedent, confirming that foreign states can be sued in UK courts over the remote surveillance of individuals in Britain, even when the hacking itself was directed from abroad.Saeed Shehabi, a journalist and founder of a Bahraini political party that opposes the Khalifa royal family’s rule, and Moosa Mohammed, a Bahraini refugee, accused the Bahraini government of infecting their computers in 2011 with spyware known as FinSpy, capable of logging keystrokes, tracking locations and monitoring their activities remotely.Both men, who live in the UK, sued in London’s High Court in 2020, seeking damages for “psychiatric harm”.Bahrain denied the hacking and argued the alleged acts took place outside UK jurisdiction, entitling it to immunity.The High Court of Justice in London rejected that argument in 2023 in a decision upheld by the Court of Appeal the following y...