Morocco reviews expert testimonies on alleged use of Pegasus spyware

Morocco’s National Commission for Monitoring the Protection of Personal Data said it will receive Jonathan Scott this week, the author of Exonerating Morocco – disproving the Spyware, a report published on 18 February. The meeting will be part of a review of the allegations regarding the alleged use by the Moroccan authorities of the Israeli Pegasus spyware against activists and journalists.

Amnesty International accused the Moroccan authorities of spying on Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar, and of targeting Moroccan investigative journalist Omar Radi using the spyware developed by the Israeli NSO group.

“Since issuing a press release on 4 August, 2021,” said the commission, “we have been studying the issue of these unproven technical allegations. Since the various actors have been circulating the allegations for several months without providing evidence, the National Commission for Monitoring the Protection of Personal Data has decided to conduct hearings with all technical experts, national and international, who wish to share their analyses and conclusions, provided that they are based on realistic methodologies and proven facts.”

The commission stressed that it will continue its consultations with experts who wish to share their experiences on the subject. It pointed out that it is regarded as a legal institution that is based only on proven facts and operates in accordance with the requirements of Law 09.08 related to the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data.

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