A Saudi Arabian dissident who claims to have been a victim of hacking is suing his government at the High Court in London, in a rare case against the ultra-conservative kingdom.

Ghanem al-Masarir, a satirist who has been living under police protection in the UK, alleges that had his phone hacked after criticising the Saudi royal family on social media in 2018.

Al-Masarir, 39, who was put under protection following the murder in Istanbul of fellow dissident and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, reported unusual activity on his phones shortly after.

His phones were later analysed by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, which tracks the use of cyberweapons and allegedly confirmed that he had been sent malicious texts that were “associated” with spyware.

His lawyers at Leigh Day law firm said the decision by the High Court to allow them to serve the claim against Riyadh showed he had an “arguable” and legitimate case.