UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Demands Immediate Investigation by the US
Saudi Embassy in the US Issues Statement Denying Allegations
[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Allegations of hacking into Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO's mobile phone are spreading rapidly. The United Nations (UN) has called for an immediate investigation into Saudi Arabia, while the Saudi side has completely denied the allegations.
The UN Special Rapporteur issued a statement on the 22nd (local time), saying, "The information we have obtained suggests the possibility that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia was involved in the 'Bezos surveillance'." This is in response to suspicions that a malicious file was contained in a WhatsApp message sent from the mobile phone of Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, to CEO Bezos, which may have led to the leakage of Bezos's personal information.
The Special Rapporteur particularly claimed that the hacking intent was "to influence Saudi-related reporting through Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post (WP)."
The UN's involvement in this hacking allegation is rooted in the murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who had been contributing critical columns about Saudi Arabia to the WP. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) appointed a Special Rapporteur early last year to conduct a fact-finding investigation into the 'Khashoggi murder case.'
The Special Rapporteur emphasized, "There is an urgent need for the United States and relevant authorities to immediately investigate the allegations of hacking the phones of Bezos and others."
This implies that the hacking of Bezos's mobile phone may have been an attempt to curb Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident journalist who was murdered in 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Turkey and who had been continuously writing critical columns for the WP.
The Saudi side has completely denied the hacking allegations. According to CNN, the Saudi Embassy in the United States issued a statement claiming, "The allegation that the Saudi royal family hacked CEO Bezos's mobile phone is absurd." The embassy further emphasized, "If an investigation into these allegations is conducted, the suspicions against Saudi Arabia will disappear."
However, it is uncertain whether the United States will launch an investigation into this hacking incident. U.S. President Donald Trump has previously defended Crown Prince Salman against allegations of involvement in the Khashoggi murder case.
Meanwhile, CNN reported that Bezos CEO's digital forensic team is giving considerable weight to the possibility that Bezos's mobile phone was hacked through Crown Prince Salman's phone.
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