Morocco’s lawyer Olivier Baratelli said the ten-day deadline which Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories could prove their claim that the North African country used Pegasus spyware to target journalists, human rights activists and politicians in multiple countries has expired.
“The ten-day deadline by which Amnesty and Forbidden Stories could prove what they are claiming has expired,” Olivier Baratelli said in a statement to CNews.
“Amnesty and Forbidden Stories have not released anything, they have their fists in their pockets,” said Baratelli, adding that this “gruesome situation has shown that this case is only a hoax.”
On July 22, Morocco and its ambassador to France decided to sue Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories for defamation before the Paris Criminal Court.
The Moroccan government condemned last month “the persistent false, massive and malicious media campaign” and challenged “their peddlers to provide any tangible and material evidence” that supports their claim
Baratelli said that an expert report would be filed with the public prosecutor. “The IT expert report produced by two experts from the Court of Appeal will rule out any use by Morocco of this software,” he said.
He called on French justice to shed light on the instigators of what he called a smear campaign against Morocco.
“Morocco has detractors on the international scene. The kingdom is an international leader in the fight against terrorism. It has always been a friend of France and has helped a lot to thwart attacks on the French territory. Which may displease some,” said Baratelli.
Morocco’s lawyer said that the country had filed another lawsuit in a German court against the newspaper publishing company “Süddeutsche Zeitung GmbH” for false allegations as part of a report on the alleged use of Pegasus spyware by the North African Kingdom.
