Serbian prosecutor probing Trump Tower in Belgrade targeted with spyware

A Serbian prosecutor investigating alleged corruption surrounding a Trump real estate project in Belgrade was targeted with Israeli-made Pegasus spyware after speaking out about political interference and abuses of power, according to research made public Monday.

Rade Bajić, a member of Serbia's Public Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime, is reported to be the latest target identified in a growing spyware scandal that has engulfed the country's political opposition, civil society and institutions.

The research is the latest by Toronto University's Citizen Lab in collaboration with Serbian digital rights organization, SHARE Foundation, including the discovery that Bajić received an Apple Threat Notification iMessage on Aug. 13.

The spyware revelation comes amid mounting controversy over plans to redevelop the former Yugoslav military headquarters in Belgrade into a luxury Trump Tower skyscraper. The project, associated with Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, has faced allegations of political interference and irregularities surrounding the removal of the site's protected heritage status.

Bajić's targeting follows revelations in September that at least 14 people in Serbia, including student activists and opposition figures, had received warnings indicating they may have been targeted with sophisticated spyware. Researchers at Toronto University's Citizen Lab confirmed a Pegasus infection in at least one case.

"In Serbia, spyware surveillance has steadily expanded from civil society and journalists to student activists, politicians and now university and judicial representatives," said Andrijana Ristić, a policy advisor at SHARE Foundation. "This escalation is fueled by perceived impunity and state inaction, even in cases where criminal complaints have been filed."

Another prominent figure caught up in the surveillance scandal is Vladan Đokić, rector of the University of Belgrade, whose phone was infected with Pegasus, according to the same report.

Đokić has emerged as a prominent figure in Serbia's protest movement after refusing to facilitate a government crackdown on student demonstrators. He has faced sustained pressure from authorities, including a police raid on his university offices on March 31, during which computers and servers were reportedly seized.

Until September, Đokić was also frequently mentioned as a potential leader of the student-backed electoral list ahead of Serbia's planned Oct. 25 parliamentary snap elections.

The identity of those responsible for deploying Pegasus against Bajić and Đokić has not been established.

"NSO has spent a decade claiming to turn over a new leaf each time an abuse surfaces. But there is no hiding the truth: Pegasus is a technology for repression," said John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab. "It's no accident that people standing up for freedom in the face of corruption keep getting hacked with NSO's products."