The Moroccan authorities have launched a lawsuit against a German newspaper for spreading “false” allegations.
Morocco accused the German paper Suddeutsche Zeitung of using the Israeli spy software Pegasus to intercept the phones of top politicians, journalists and others.
As a result, Morocco has filed a lawsuit against the paper for promoting fake news, according to Morocco World News.
Zohour Alaoui of the Moroccan Embassy in Berlin reportedly filed the request for an injunction against the German newspaper on 2nd August.
The North African country has denied using the Israeli spy software, claiming it has never obtained or even used the system.
On 22nd July, Morocco launched a lawsuit against the NGOs Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International for spearheading the claims that they used Pegasus, later picked up by international media companies.
On 28th July, the country reportedly filed further lawsuits that included one against the French newspaper le Monde and its 55-year-old editorial director Jerome Fenoglio.
According to reports, Morocco has also launched lawsuits against Radio France and the news site Mediapart.
When the allegation was first reported, the government slammed what it called a ‘defamation campaign’ in a series of statements, blaming media companies for following the NGOs’ claims without checking independently.
A number of French officials and public figures have since supported Morocco amid the allegations.
Ex-head of the French DGSI intelligence agency, Bernard Squarcini, said it was highly unlikely that the country used the Israeli Pegasus system to spy on notable French officials that is even said to have included President Macron.
