Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/RABAT: Six Moroccan activists targeted by the spy software Pegasus announced on Wednesday that they would join a lawsuit in California against software’s Israeli maker NSO.
Pegasus software
The activists, who claimed to be victims of illegal intrusion into their phones by Pegasus software, intend to file a joint complaint in a case brought by messaging service WhatsApp, accusing NSO of allowing mass espionage against activists and journalists.
In a statement, the Moroccan plaintiffs claimed that “criminal intrusion” into their phones had helped cause “serious harm” as a result of “our” activities as human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, and politicians. According to lawyer Fouad Abdelmoumni, these practices must cease immediately.
Three rights activists and the wife of imprisoned dissident journalist Soulaimane Raissouni, who is serving a five-year sentence on sexual abuse charges, are among those who have filed the complaint.
Pegasus provides government users with nearly full access to a target’s device, including private information and messages, photos, location, and even the camera. The US Supreme Court granted a California federal court permission to hear the case in January, dismissing an NSO appeal.
WhatsApp accuses the NSO of installing spyware on 1,400 devices to steal data. In July 2021, Amnesty International accused several governments, including Morocco, of using technology against political dissidents.
Morocco has repeatedly denied the charges. People “shouldn’t be duped by a few non-specialist gesticulations,” said the head of the country’s CNDP data protection agency on Wednesday.
Ignacio Cembrero, a Spanish journalist and Morocco expert, publicly accused Rabat of hacking his personal phone after a pro-government Moroccan news organization published personal WhatsApp messages between him and Spanish officials. Rabat promptly sued him, demanding that he retract his allegations and pay legal fees. In the coming weeks, a Spanish court will rule on the case.
Morocco has taken similar actions in France in response to allegations that it used Pegasus software to spy on journalists and politicians, including President Emmanuel Macron.
