Morocco Plans to Sue Organizations Over Pegasus Surveillance Claims

The French news site France Info reported on Thursday that Morocco has hired a lawyer to file a defamation lawsuit in a French court against two civil organizations that claimed Morocco had placed senior French officials on a list of potential targets for electronic surveillance. The site quoted lawyer Olivier Baratelli stating that the Moroccan government intends to sue Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories. The two organizations participated in an investigation with research institutions that alleged that the Pegasus spyware produced by the Israeli company NSO was used to hack mobile phones belonging to journalists, rights activists, and officials in several countries. Morocco denied the allegations, and the Israeli company stated that the claims are baseless.