French media is still relishing the thought of bringing back to life the Pegasus affair that was pronounced dead at birth. Now, it is the turn of Mediapart to show its animosity and go after its “Holy Grail”.
This time, French news outlet “Mediapart” previewed a documentary, produced by Amnesty International, on the Pegasus affair.
The documentary turns on Cyber surveillance and the practices of many countries which allegedly purchased the well-known spyware from Israeli company “NSO”. Morocco is, of course, on the list, as Mediapart journalists Edwy Plenel and Lénaïg Bredoux claimed that they were spied on.
Jonathan Scott, US computer scientist, refuted all these allegations via his Twitter account, saying that “this documentary is completely biased, not based on any science, and is clearly just attacking Morocco”, adding that it is “100% propaganda”.
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On April 12, Paris Appeal Court upheld what it called the “inadmissibility” of defamation suits brought by Morocco against French NGOs and media that had attempted to target the Kingdom. At the first instance court, the direct summonses against Le Monde, Radio France, France Media Monde, Mediapart, L’Humanité, Forbidden Stories, and Amnesty International were deemed “inadmissible” by the Paris Correctional Court.
The ruling closed the debate on the issue given that, under the 1881 law on press freedom, a state cannot bring a defamation suit. Morocco is still considering the cassation court option.