Amnesty will apologise to Morocco if spyware allegation is incorrect

Amnesty International said on Wednesday that it will apologise formally to Morocco if the international judiciary prove that the authorities in Rabat did not use NSO Group spyware against journalists and activists. The human rights group made the pledge during a press conference in its Rabat office at which it presented its 2021/22 report.

“The Moroccan government says we have not provided evidence of our accusations of espionage, but we have submitted a detailed technical report,” explained Mohamed Sektaoui, Amnesty’s secretary-general in Morocco. He pointed out that the case is under review by international judges, and if their decision is issued in favour of the Kingdom, the organisation will present its “official apology, courageously saying that it has made a mistake.”

Morocco demanded two weeks ago that Amnesty should provide evidence for its “arbitrary allegations” about the government’s use of the infamous Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to hack into the phones of journalists and activists, including Omar Radi in 2020. Radi was arrested in July that year on suspicion of “rape” and “espionage”, which the journalist denies.

Last June, Morocco filed defamation lawsuits against international organisations and foreign media institutions following allegations that the authorities used the Pegasus spyware to hack the phones of public and foreign figures.

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