Serbian prosecutor spyware attack hits Rade Bajić, who probed Belgrade Trump tower case
Rade Bajić, the Serbian prosecutor who investigated the allegedly illegal scheme behind the Belgrade Trump tower project, was targeted with advanced mercenary spyware, expert analysis has found. Bajić says his work on the case was the sole reason for the attack.
Serbian prosecutor spyware attack hits Rade Bajić, who probed Belgrade Trump tower case
Rade Bajić, a Serbian prosecutor who investigated the authorities' allegedly illegal scheme to help the Trumps build a tower in Belgrade, has been targeted with advanced spyware, according to expert analysis. Bajić, a member of the specialised organised-crime unit, links the attack directly to his prosecutorial work.
What the analysis found
In August, Bajić received a message from Apple telling him it had "detected a targeted mercenary attack against your iPhone". Analysts at Citizen Lab reviewed the notification and assessed it as "a high confidence indicator that his device was likely targeted with mercenary spyware, such as Pegasus".
According to Citizen Lab, a zero-click Pegasus infection would be invisible to the person targeted and "would give the Pegasus attacker total access to the device". The analysts have not so far established who was behind the attack. NSO Group, the Israel-based company that makes Pegasus, has been approached for comment.
- Apple notified Bajić of a mercenary attack on his iPhone in August
- Citizen Lab assessed the notification as a high-confidence indicator of mercenary spyware, such as Pegasus
- A zero-click infection would be invisible to the target and give the attacker total access
- Those behind the attack have not been identified
The case Bajić was working on
Last year, prosecutors indicted senior members of the regime of Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić for abusing their positions to unlawfully strip the General Staff building in Belgrade of its protected status. Those convicted face years in jail.
The building had been cleared for a $500m Trump hotel and tower project, which Jared Kushner was leading; after the charges were made public, Kushner called the plans off. Representatives of the Trumps and Kushner denied they engaged in "pay to play" arrangements or had any involvement in the decision to strip the building's protected status.
Bajić's removal and public statements
Bajić says he was taken off the case without explanation shortly before the indictment was published. In February, he addressed demonstrators, telling them: "The law will be equal for all."
"In my opinion, my involvement in this case was the sole reason for this unlawful spyware attack."
That is Bajić's own account of why he was targeted.
Political backdrop
The attack on Bajić comes against a background in which Vučić vowed reprisals and denounced the prosecutors handling the case, including Bajić himself. Citizen Lab and the Share Foundation had previously identified spyware attacks on anti-government protesters, discovering Pegasus on at least one protester's phone.
Over the weekend, Vučić confirmed details of a previously secret meeting and said he had done nothing wrong. "I fought for my people," he said. "And that's what I'll continue to do in the future." He stepped down in late September and called snap elections for 25 October, hoping to prolong his 12-year rule by switching from president to prime minister.
The prosecutors' unit, meanwhile, has said it may bring more charges in the General Staff building case, and NSO Group has been approached for comment.
