‘You don’t know what is private’: how spyware erodes human rights in Bahrain

Growing evidence shows Gulf state's friends and enemies are being targeted by NSO Group software

Mohammed al-Tajer was caught off guard when his iPhone pinged last November with a warning that said his phone had been targeted by a nation state.

The 55-year-old lawyer from Bahrain had been known among dissidents for his fearless" defence of opposition leaders and protesters after the 2011 pro-democracy uprising in the tiny Gulf state, when a series of demonstrations and protests were violently suppressed by authorities with the help of Saudi forces.