Four film makers linked to the BBC documentary ‘Blood Parliament’ now claim that the Kenyan government secretly planted surveillance software on their electronic devices while the gadgets were in police custody.
A forensic report by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab confirms that the phone of one suspect, Nick Wambugu, was infected with the commercial spyware FlexiSPY while it was in state custody.
According to the report, Adagala’s phone was confiscated by police on May 2, 2025, and returned more than two months later, on July 10, 2025. Citizen Lab’s analysis shows that FlexiSPY was installed on the device on May 21, 2025, at 17:17 GMT—during the period when the phone was held by authorities.
FlexiSPY is a widely available surveillance tool capable of covertly recording calls, capturing messages, tracking location, taking screenshots, activating microphones, and even deleting or altering data. It has previously been linked to the targeting of activists, journalists, and dissidents, as well as use by criminal networks.
Citizen Lab, an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, specializes in investigating digital threats against civil society.
Its researchers noted that while their analysis confirmed the presence of FlexiSPY, they could not rule out the possibility that other spyware or manipulations were introduced while the device was in police custody.
The four filmmakers connected to the Blood Parliament documentary were arrested in May 2025 and detained at Muthaiga Police Station as investigations continued.
Their arrests came just days after the BBC aired its 40-minute exposé detailing how Kenyan security forces opened fire on anti-tax protesters outside Parliament in June 2024, leaving several dead and many injured.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) arraigned the suspects in court under a miscellaneous application that remains open. They are currently out on bail under terms imposed by the court.
The matter came up for mention Wednesday September 10, 2025 but did not proceed as the trial court was not sitting.
