LONDON (Reuters) -Bahrain cannot claim state immunity to block a lawsuit brought in Britain by two dissidents who say its government hacked their laptops with spyware, London’s Court of Appeal ruled on Friday.
Saeed Shehabi and Moosa Mohammed say Bahrain infected their computers with surveillance software called FinSpy around 2011, which allowed agents to monitor their work with political prisoners in the Gulf kingdom.
The men, who both live in Britain, are seeking damages for “psychiatric harm”.
Bahrain denies hacking Shehabi and Mohammed’s laptops. Its bid to claim state immunity was first refused by the High Court last year.
Its appeal was dismissed on Friday, with Judge Stephen Males saying in a written ruling that “a foreign state which hacks a computer located in the United Kingdom interferes with the territorial sovereignty of the United Kingdom even if some of the acts in question take place abroad”.
Shehabi said in a statement that the ruling was “a victory for freedom, justice and the rule of law”.
His co-claimant Mohammed added: “This is our second victory, and it will send a clear message – not just to the Bahraini regime, but to any government that spies on dissidents on British soil.”
A spokesperson for Bahrain’s government said in a statement: “We maintain that the allegations are baseless.
“The matter is still before the English courts, and no final decision has been reached, so it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by William James and Andrew Heavens)
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