In a significant decision for human rights and digital privacy, the **United Kingdom’s Supreme Court** has ruled that the Kingdom of Bahrain cannot invoke state immunity to block a lawsuit filed by two of its dissidents. **Saeed Shehabi** and **Moosa Mohammed**, both residing in the U.K., allege that the Bahraini government secretly installed **FinSpy** (also known as **FinFisher**) spyware on their laptops, likely in 2011. ### Allegations of Intrusive Surveillance The dissidents claim that Bahraini government agents used the spyware to monitor their activities, particularly their work with Bahraini political prisoners, journalists, and victims of torture. The alleged hacking, according to the court opinion, “allowed access to and exfiltration of information on the computers, interception of communications conducted using the computers and use of the computers’ microphones and cameras to surveil the respondents.” The court further noted that this “wide-ranging basis and by highly intrusive means” of monitoring met the legal threshold for illegal harassment. ### Pursuit of Justice from Abroad Shehabi and Mohammed, who learned of the spyware infection around August 2014 through reports on **WikiLeaks** and from a Bahraini watchdog organization, are now seeking damages from Bahrain for the mental harm they endured. Shehabi, a long-time pro-democracy activist and journalist who has lived in the U.K. since 1973, described his “long and gruelling pursuit of justice” as an example of “the psychological torture that authoritarian regimes exercise transnationally.” Mohammed arrived in Britain as a refugee in 2006, having previously been arrested and tortured by Bahraini police. ### State Immunity Argument Rejected Bahrain has consistently denied the hacking claims. Last year, the kingdom appealed to the U.K. Supreme Court, asserting state immunity. However, the court rejected this argument in a 3-2 decision, concluding that because the alleged hack occurred within the U.K., state immunity does not apply. ### The Controversial FinSpy Spyware **FinSpy**, a sophisticated spyware described by **The Citizen Lab** as being “sold exclusively to governments for intelligence and law enforcement purposes,” has been at the center of numerous controversies. Its developer, **FinFisher**, declared insolvency in 2022 amidst investigations into its business practices, highlighting the global scrutiny surrounding the sale and use of such surveillance tools.