French Lawyer Olivier Baratelli blasts ‘fanciful accusations’ against Morocco

No technical element has been able to highlight the “fanciful” accusations against Morocco on the alleged use of Pegasus spyware, said Wednesday in Rabat, Olivier Baratelli, lawyer of the Kingdom before the French courts, stressing that “Morocco is clearly a victim, for a long time, of an attempt at international destabilization.”

“For 18 months, we are still waiting for the slightest evidence of these fanciful accusations,” said Baratelli, noting that two investigating judges have been appointed on the complaints of various people who accuse Morocco of spying on their phones, but “no technical element has come to light these accusations.”

“None of the complainants has been able to present his phone and provide evidence that the software would have been infected,” added the French lawyer in a video projected at a conference organized by the Moroccan Parliament on the European Parliament’s hostile, blatant and recurrent attacks against the Kingdom.

Morocco has constantly denounced the “fanciful, unfair and manipulated accusations” about the use of Pegasus spyware, Baratelli noted, saying that the Kingdom has initiated 10 criminal proceedings for defamation against 10 newspapers that spread this rumor, without providing any evidence or document, certificate or testimony.

The Kingdom of Morocco, under the control of the French judicial authorities, had the “pseudo-report” of Amnesty International examined by computer experts recognized by the Paris Court of Appeal, the Paris Court of Justice and the Court of Cassation, said Baratelli, pointing out that none of these computer experts had pointed out any infiltration by the Pegasus software of the telephones of the persons allegedly targeted in France.

In Spain, accusations were made by a journalist named Ignacio Cembrero, who had said, peremptorily, that his phone had been infiltrated by Morocco, continued the French lawyer, pointing out that this complaint had been filed without any action by the Madrid prosecutor’s office, which had “examined and released” the phone of this journalist, in which there was no trace of spyware.

“These false accusations were unjustly made in order to damage the international reputation of the Kingdom of Morocco” by a journalist considered an enemy of Morocco, he said.

“In Spain, the use of this software by Morocco has been ruled out by the courts,” Baratelli said, adding that European investigations have been unable to prove anything against Morocco.

“The only certainty we have in the file is that Morocco is free of any accusation, but on the other hand, other European states have used the software,” he concluded.