Rabat – Omar Seghrouchni, President of Morocco’s National Control Commission for the Protection of Personal Data (CNDP), has said that the allegations regarding Morocco’s alleged use of Pegasus spyware to monitor journalists and dissidents are based on “erroneous technical evaluations.”
Seghrouchni made the remarks during a meeting with researcher of malware, spyware, and forensics, Jonathan Scott on Friday in Tangier.
The CNDP president reiterated that the allegations are based on “hasty generalizations” in an attempt to “implicate” certain countries.
Echoing the CNDP chief’s remarks, Scott also cited “methodological and scientific flaws” in the approach of Citizen Lab, Amnesty International, and Forbidden Stories as they accused Morocco of using Pegasus to spy on foreign dignitaries and monitor journalists and activists.
The groups’ use of a faulty method to substantiate their accusations against Morocco resulted in conclusions that are “more allegation than science,” he said.
Scott is the author of the recently published report titled: “Exonerating Morocco – disproving the Spyware,” which debunks allegations and claims targeting Morocco on its alleged use of Pegasus spyware.
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The CNDP intends to report the evidence provided by Scott and other experts to the scientific community, including Morocco’s critics, in hopes of reaching clear and scientifically grounded conclusions, Seghrouchni said, stressing that the Commission remains open to any competent person wishing to discuss this topic.
Earlier this week, CNDP announced in a press release its decision to call in all national and international technical experts who are willing to present and share their analyses and conclusions on the matter.
The illegitimate spying allegations targeting Morocco are unevidenced accusations, CNDP stressed, arguing that “different actors have been handling supposed facts for several months without providing any proof .”
In 2021, Amnesty International and a consortium of media organizations called Forbidden Stories accused Morocco of spying on activists, journalists, and foreign officials, including imprisoned journalist Omar Radi, with the Israeli spyware Pegasus.
The Moroccan government has strongly denied the “baseless” and “unfounded” accusations, repeatedly challenging the groups to provide evidence for their accusations..
