Rabat – In the most recent update to the Pegasus spyware claims made against Morocco, the kingdom has filed a lawsuit in Spain for defamation. Ernesto Díaz-Bastien y Abogados, SLP (EDBA), the Spanish law firm handling Morocco’s case, released on Saturday a statement detailing Morocco’s legal position.
“The Kingdom of Morocco has never acquired or used the program Pegasus. The recent information published on this issue is false and malicious,” read the statement. The law firm’s statement added that “those who claim the contrary will have to answer in court.”
On July 22, Morocco filed a lawsuit against NGOs Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories, the two organizations at the origins of claims that Morocco used the Pegasus spyware to spy on foreign leaders and other domestic figures such as activists, politicians, and journalists.
Read also: Morocco Files French Lawsuit Against Amnesty International, Forbidden Stories
Morocco has also pursued legal action against other foreign actors such as France’s Le Monde and Mediapart and Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung. Although the legal proceedings are likely to take years, Morocco’s decision to take legal action has reaffirmed the kingdom’s condemnation of the claims of espionage.
As the claims from all foreign parties against Morocco have yet to be backed by solid evidence, the kingdom has maintained its image throughout the would-be Pegasus scandal.
In recent comments on the lack of publicly available evidence in the Pegasus affair, Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita suggested that the case against the North African country consists of unverified assertions by politically motivated actors.
Far from supporting their accusations with facts, Bourita told Jeune Afrique late last month, Amnesty and Forbidden Stories “are relying solely on pure speculation.” He added that most of the media organizations and people publishing Forbidden Stories’ “false allegations” against Morocco are known for “their primary hostility towards Morocco.”
