Kenyan Police Installed Spyware on Seized Phones of Filmmakers Behind BBC’s Blood Parliament Documentary
Four filmmakers behind the BBC documentary Blood Parliament now claim their devices were secretly compromised while in police custody, with a forensic report showing spyware infection.
A new report from the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab has found that one of the filmmakers’ devices was infected with FlexiSPY, a surveillance tool, while in police custody.
The analysis looked at the phone of Nick Wambugu whose device was taken by police in early May and returned in July. According to Citizen Lab, the spyware was installed on May 21, 2025, at 17:17 GMT – weeks after the phone had already been seized.
Another filmmaker, Adagala had their phone held between May 2 and July 10, 2025 and the forensic evidence shows tampering within that period.
FlexiSPY is a commercial spyware that can record calls, read messages, track movements, activate microphones and even delete stored information. It has been used to target journalists, dissidents and activists as well as criminal organizations.
Citizen Lab researchers said while they confirmed the presence of the spyware they couldn’t rule out the possibility of other malware or manipulation while the gadgets were in police custody.
This comes at a time when tensions are high following the release of the BBC documentary Blood Parliament. The 40-minute expose aired in late April 2025 and showed how Kenyan security forces opened fire on anti-tax protesters outside Parliament in June 2024 resulting in deaths and injuries.
Just days after the broadcast the four filmmakers were arrested and detained at Muthaiga Police Station as part of ongoing investigations. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) later arraigned them in court under a miscellaneous application that is still pending. They are currently out on bail on strict conditions.
The matter was listed for mention on Wednesday, September 10, 2025 but did not proceed as the trial court was not sitting.
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Kenyan Police Installed Spyware on Seized Phones of Filmmakers Behind BBC’s Blood Parliament Documentary