Khashoggi Widow Files Complaint in France, Alleges Pegasus Spyware Stole Phone Data Before His Murder

Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, the widow of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has filed a legal complaint in France alleging that Saudi agents used the Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to extract data from her mobile phones in the months leading up to her husband’s murder.

Details of the Complaint

According to a copy of the filing reviewed by AFP, Hanan Khashoggi says some of the data was taken while she was in France, a country she visited repeatedly during her work as a flight attendant. The complaint cites research by Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, which found that two of her phones were infected with Pegasus in April 2018.

The filing notes the timing of the infections coincided with an interrogation she endured at an airport in the United Arab Emirates, a close ally of Saudi Arabia. Her lawyers, William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth, said it would be "unthinkable not to establish a link between this interception (of information) and the actions that led to the murder" of Jamal Khashoggi.

Legal and International Context

The complaint does not name a specific defendant; the French judiciary must now decide whether to open a formal investigation. The case arrives amid wider scrutiny of NSO Group’s Pegasus software. In 2022, Amnesty International reported identifying multiple government clients of Pegasus, which can allegedly activate a phone’s camera and microphone and harvest stored data.

In 2021, a U.S. intelligence assessment concluded that Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had ordered the operation that led to Khashoggi’s murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Despite that assessment, then‑U.S. President Donald Trump publicly defended the crown prince during a visit to Washington.

Separately, a U.S. judge in October granted an injunction barring NSO Group from targeting WhatsApp users as part of litigation that accuses the company of cyberespionage against journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders and others. The French complaint adds a potential European legal dimension to ongoing international scrutiny of state use of commercial spyware.

Quote: "It would be unthinkable not to establish a link between this interception (of information) and the actions that led to the murder," said Hanan Khashoggi's lawyers.

The French judiciary’s decision on whether to investigate will determine whether this allegation progresses into a formal probe with cross-border implications.