A London-based Saudi dissident who a judge decided should receive more than £3m in damages from the kingdom for assault and the hacking of his phone has insisted that it must pay up or face enforcement action.
Mr Justice Saini ruled that the Saudi government infected the phone of Ghanem al-Masarir with Pegasus spyware and, while surveillance was continuing, in 2018, its agents attacked him outside Harrods in central London.
It was a landmark judgment, holding to account a regime that has faced numerous allegations of human rights abuses but has consistently managed to avoid legal responsibility for abuses.
However, with the Saudi government having long refused to participate in the case after failing to have it thrown out on the grounds of “state immunity”, the big question is whether it will comply with the order to pay al-Masarir damages.
In an interview with the Guardian, the 45-year-old satirist and human rights activist said: “I hope they will comply and pay the debt as soon as possible. If they don’t pay it, we won’t have any other alternative but to take enforcement action to recover the money from Saudi assets abroad, it doesn’t have to be the UK.”
The bulk of the damages – about £2.5m – was for loss of earnings as he had previously had, in Saini’s words, a “thriving and lucrative” career, creating content critical of the Saudi government. However, al-Masarir continues to experience severe depression as a result of being targeted, leaving him unable to work.
The Saudis have made no comment on Monday’s judgment nor indicated whether they will pay the compensation. Nevertheless, al-Masarir, who was granted asylum in the UK in 2018 and citizenship last month, described Monday’s high court judgment as an “amazing thing, them being liable in a court of law. This judgment sent a signal they should not intervene inside the UK and it will not be tolerated.”
Referring to attempts by Prince Mohammed to get the then foreign minister, David Cameron, to intervene in the case, revealed by the Guardian last year, al-Masarir said: “They think they can hide behind state immunity and force the UK to interfere in the legal system. That happily didn’t work and justice has been served. In Saudi they can interfere with their legal system but not here. It is an independent legal system.”
The Citizen Lab, at the University of Toronto, which tracks digital attacks against civil society, established in 2018 that al-Masarir’s phone had been infected as well as other critics of Saudi Arabia, including his friend the Canadian-based dissident Omar Abdulaziz, who was also friends with their fellow dissident Jamal Khashoggi.
Among previous legal actions against the Saudis that have floundered were a US lawsuit accusing Mohammed bin Salman of conspiring to kill Khashoggi, which was dismissed on the basis that the Saudi crown prince was entitled to sovereign immunity, despite the judge finding “credible allegations” that he was involved in the murder.
Saini ruled that there was “effectively criminal conduct” by the Saudis against al-Masarir, albeit proven on the balance of probabilities, which is the lower standard of proof in civil cases. “I thought I would be safe in the centre of London [but] they were able to locate me and send their agent to attack me,” said al-Masarir.
“We all know what happened to Jamal Kashoggi, how far they are willing to go and, in my case, how they were willing to send their agent to attack me in the streets of London and to hack my phones, even though it’s an independent and sovereign country. So I don’t know if they will stop, I hope this will deter them and hold them accountable and I hope they will not do it any more to anybody.”
The court heard that al-Masarir had suffered “catastrophic personal consequences”, rarely leaves the house and cannot carry out many basic day-to-day activities. “I suffered a lot and what they have done to me has ruined my life,” he said. “I’m not the same person I was 10 years ago, I am a different person, I can’t do my work. I haven’t visited the same place I was attacked [since] – that is seven years. It’s too painful to see.”
He has little faith in the much-trumpeted political reforms in Saudi Arabia, referring disparagingly to last year’s controversial comedy festival in the kingdom featuring the likes of Louis CK, Dave Chappelle and Jimmy Carr. “At the same time they have attacked me – I’m a comedian as well,” he said. “It shows you how hypocritical they are.”
He said that, whether they paid up or not, the Saudis had got what they wanted, stopping him from creating the satirical shows that have clocked up almost 350m views on YouTube: “It’s a win for them because they silenced me and I’m not able to do my work any more.”
