Morocco has instructed a lawyer to file a defamation case in a French court against two civil society groups that alleged Morocco put top French officials on a list of potential targets for electronic surveillance, French news outlet franceinfo reported on Thursday.
The news outlet quoted the lawyer, Olivier Baratelli, as saying the Moroccan state planned to file suit against Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories. The two groups are part of a consortium of researchers who allege that Pegasus spyware produced by Israeli company NSO Group was used in hacking smartphones belonging to journalists, rights activists and officials in several countries.
Morocco has rejected the allegations, and NSO has said the allegations are wrong.