Pegasus: Morocco opens investigation into “unfounded accusations”

Published on : 07/22/2021 – 07:48

The Moroccan public prosecutor’s office announced, Wednesday, July 21, the opening of an investigation into the “unfounded accusations” according to which Morocco used the Pegasus software of the Israeli firm NSO for espionage purposes.

In a statement relayed on Wednesday by the MAP press agency, the prosecution considers that the press information includes “serious accusations and allegations” which “harm the highest interests of the kingdom”. The objective of the investigation is “to identify the parties behind their publication,” said the prosecution.

According to Le Monde and Radio France, which conducted an investigation with other media outlets around the world based on documents provided by Amnesty International, the Moroccan intelligence services notably targeted the president in 2019. French Emmanuel Macron and his then Prime Minister Édouard Philippe for monitoring their phones using Pegasus.

French justice announced Tuesday the opening of an investigation following these revelations. It is not immediately known whether Emmanuel Macron and the former head of the French government were actually spied on.

Earlier today, the Moroccan government accused the media of “hate attacks” over the handling of the Pegasus case. According to the Moroccan authorities, the objective pursued is to put Rabat “under their control”. The government has demanded physical evidence to substantiate the charges against it.

Again “categorically rejecting these false and unfounded allegations”, he said “to opt for a judicial process, in Morocco and internationally against any party taking up these fallacious allegations”, according to a statement.

On Monday, Rabat had already deemed “false” information according to which the kingdom’s services had “infiltrated the phones of several national and foreign public figures and heads of international organizations through computer software”.

NSO on Sunday dismissed the charges against it, assuring that its software was intended only for government agencies to help them fight crime and terrorism.

With AFP and Reuters