29 Jan 2022; MEMO: Morocco has filed a lawsuit before the Criminal Court in Paris against Amnesty International and the Forbidden Stories NGO for defamation. However, the Judiciary of France has refused to examine the complaint filed by Morocco against the French organisations, who accused the kingdom of spying on them via Israeli Pegasus software. Morocco has not yet issued a formal response.
On Wednesday, the Judiciary of France reviewed a complaint filed by Morocco. The public prosecutor immediately justified the rejection of the complaint with the pretext that countries cannot file defamation lawsuits under the Law on the Freedom of the Press of 1881.
The government news agency said that facts are different in this case "where obscure political entities and some media are colluding against Morocco in a malicious attempt to intimidate it." It denied the "false allegations" of Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories, stressing that the kingdom has relied on evidence in conducting an investigation, demonstrating the allegations' fraudulent nature.
The government news agency denied that Morocco's objective in filling these lawsuits was to undermine the freedom of expression, but rather to defend its rights and reputation. It stressed that Rabat is seeking to use its right to demand restitution of damages and grievances it has suffered, given the serious impact of the accusations.
The official media authority considered that accepting the complaint is "an indisputable matter". It reiterated that the time has come for countries and their affiliated bodies to have fair access to justice in order to defend themselves against accusations of defamation and from "fabricated narratives" presented by irresponsible media as absolute fact.
The Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Nasser Bourita confirmed in an interview with African magazine Jeune Afrique that any person or entity that makes accusations against Morocco must present evidence, otherwise, they would bear the consequences of slander before the judiciary.
