A Saudi-born YouTuber Ghanem al-Masarir, won a massive legal battle with $4.1M compensation as a UK court ruled that Saudi Arabia was behind his assault in London and hacking of his phone. The 45-year-old comedian had amassed 345 million views on his satirical videos criticising the Saudi Arabian royal family, which ended up making him a target.
The beginning of chaos
Born in Saudi Arabia, Al-Masarir has lived in Britain for more than 20 years. Residing in Wembley, he was merrily continuing his comedy career, which included YouTube videos trolling Saudi rulers and in particular, the crown prince and de facto ruler Mohamed bin Salman.
Slowly, he noticed his phones began behaving weirdly. As per a BBC report, they became very slow with the batteries running out quickly.
Then, he began noticing familiar faces in different parts of London. People supporting the regime stopped him in the street, harassing and filming him. This made him question how they always knew his whereabouts, leading to the conclusion that his phone was being used to spy on him.
"It was something that I couldn't comprehend. They can see your location. They can turn on the camera. They can turn on the microphone and listen to you. They got your data, all pictures, everything. You feel you've been violated," he told the outlet.
Stalking and assault
Al-Masarir's iPhones were hacked in 2018 after he clicked on links in three text messages that were apparently sent by news outlets as special membership offers. This led to him being stalked, harassed and assaulted in central London in the same year.
As per court hearings, two strangers approached him, shouted at him demanding to know who he was to talk about the royal family. Then they punched him in the face and continued to attack him. As people intervened, the men relayed, calling the YouTuber a "slave of Qatar" and saying they were going to "teach him a lesson."
However, a year later in 2019, the comedian was approached by a child at a Kensington café who sang a song praising the Saudi monarch, King Salman. The incident was filmed and posted on social media and even aired on the state-owned television in the country. The same day, a man approached him at a west London restaurant warning, "Your days are numbered."
Court rulings
"There is a compelling basis" that the assault and the hack "was directed or authorised by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or agents acting on its behalf," Mr Justice Saini said in his written judgement. The judge ruled that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had a clear interest in and was motivated to "shut down the claimant's public criticism of the Saudi government."
Spyware experts from the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab confirmed that Al-Masarir had been hacked with Pegasus spyware, which is a powerful hacking tool made by an Israeli company, NSO Group.
The court awarded £3,025,662.83 ($4.1 million), though it remains unclear if the regime will pay as the country has not been represented in any proceedings.
"No amount of money can repay the harm this has done to me," he says. "The hack has really changed me. I am not the same Ghanem I used to be," said the comedian to the outlet, adding that he doesn't venture far from his home now.
