After Forbidden Stories, The world, Radio France, Mediapart and Amnesty International, the daily Humanity is in turn the target of a libel claim against the Kingdom of Morocco, in connection with the revelations of the “Pegasus Project”, has learned The world with the communist daily.
The world and sixteen other editors, coordinated by Forbidden Stories, had revealed this summer the extent of the surveillance carried out by various States against political opponents, journalists, lawyers or human rights activists, using the powerful spyware Pegasus, marketed by the Israeli company NSO Group.
Morocco is among the clients of Pegasus identified by the consortium of journalists, with many targets in France, including activists for the independence of Western Sahara, but also French diplomats or senior politicians.
Rabat denies having used this software and has filed a “defamation” complaint against the main partners of the “Pegasus Project” in France, including The world, but also against Mediapart – whose founder, Edwy Plenel, was spied on by Pegasus – and, now, against Humanity. The journalist author of the article targeted by the complaint, Rosa Moussaoui, figure herself in the list of potential Pegasus targets consulted by the consortium.
Several complaints from victims
Since the end of July, several other complaints, directly or indirectly targeting Morocco and NSO Group, have also been filed in France by victims of spyware and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). First a collective complaint, launched by Reporters Without Borders, which brings together 17 journalists potentially targeted by the software. Mediapart and The chained Duck, including journalist Dominique Simonnot, who has since become general controller of places of deprivation of liberty, also filed a complaint in Paris. To this are added the complaint of the National Union of Journalists as well as that of Rosa Moussaoui and Humanity, who in turn lodged a complaint with the constitution of civil party with the National Union of Journalists-CGT.
The first elements of the investigation confirmed the technical analyzes carried out, within the framework of the “Project Pegasus”, by the Security Lab of Amnesty International. The world maintains the information published this summer.
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