The Parliamentary Commission on Pegasus Was Scheduled to Question Ernest Bejda Today

The Parliamentary Commission investigating the use of Pegasus spyware had planned to question Ernest Bejda, the head of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) from 2016 to 2020, today. However, this morning the commission’s secretariat received a letter stating that Bejda would not be attending the hearing.

Bejda is citing a ruling from the Constitutional Tribunal, presided over by Julia Przyłębska, which claims that the commission’s scope of action is unconstitutional.

“PiS-friendly politicians will use this loophole provided to them by Julia Przyłębska’s Tribunal,” commented the commission’s chair, Magdalena Sroka of the Third Way party.

“This is a coordinated action by a coordinated group that has devised a way to avoid attending the commission’s hearings,” added deputy chair Tomasz Trela from the Left party.

The commission on Pegasus is investigating who purchased and deployed the spyware, on what basis, and for what purpose. It is known that opposition politicians (including Krzysztof Brejza, Sławomir Nowak, Michał Kołodziejczak, and Roman Giertych), prosecutors critical of the government (such as Ewa Wrzosek), and even PiS politicians were surveilled using Pegasus. It is possible that up to 100 politicians were monitored, including former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. The Supreme Audit Office (NIK) has determined that Pegasus was used in over 7,000 breaches affecting hundreds of devices.

Bejda was expected to be a key witness in the case, as it was during his tenure that the CBA began using the Pegasus system. The commission remains confident that Bejda will eventually be questioned. “We must schedule new dates, and the final step will be a request for enforcement, and we will take such actions,” said Sroka.

At 12:00 p.m., the second scheduled hearing of the day is set to begin, with the commission questioning prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek.