A Barcelona court ruled that the co-founders of spyware maker NSO Group, Omri Lavie and Shalev Hulio, and former executive of two affiliate companies Yuval Somekh, can be indicted as part of an investigation into the alleged hacking of Catalan lawyer Andreu Van den Eynde.
Barcelona-based human rights nonprofit Iridia, which filed the criminal complaint, announced the ruling on Monday.
In a lower court, Iridia requested the judge charge Lavie, Hulio, and Somekh, in addition to their companies. Initially, the court rejected the request. Iridia appealed, and the higher court now ruled that the three can be charged.
“This ruling sets an important legal precedent in the fight against spyware espionage in Europe,” Iridia spokesperson Lucía Foraster Garriga told TechCrunch. “The individuals involved will now be held personally accountable in court.”
“We have no comment,” NSO Group spokesperson Gil Lanier told TechCrunch in an email.
Lavie, Shalev, and Somekh did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.