The Spanish judiciary rejected a lawsuit filed by Morocco against a Spanish journalist who accused the kingdom of spying on him using the Israeli Pegasus software.

And the Madrid Court of First Instance considered, in a decision seen by Agence France-Presse, Thursday, that the journalist was not defamed in Morocco, and therefore rejected the kingdom's lawsuit.

In response to a question from Agence France-Presse, the office of the kingdom's lawyer, Ernesto Diaz Bastian, indicated that it intends to appeal the ruling.
This lawsuit, filed by the Moroccan authorities against Ignacio Sombrero (68 years old), represents a new episode in the "Pegasus case", which was revealed in July 2021 by an investigative media coalition that confirmed that 50,000 people around the world had been exposed to espionage through Pegasus from governments, including the Moroccan government.

The Israeli company "NSO Group" developed the Pegasus software, which was sold to many countries, and it allows access to messages, data, and even the operation of the hacked phone's camera and microphone.

Among the 180 journalists on the list of personalities targeted by Pegasus is the Spaniard Sembrero, who has been writing about the Maghreb for more than two decades and is considered an expert on Morocco.

The journalist has confirmed repeatedly since 2021, in interviews and before a committee of the European Parliament, that he is convinced that Morocco is responsible for hacking his phone, admitting at the same time that he has no evidence of that.

The Moroccan authorities have always asserted that they do not possess Pegasus software.

Judge Sonia Lins Muñoz said in the text of the March 10 decision that the statements made by Ignacio Sombrero in interviews were the result of "the publication of a journalistic investigation by an international group about people who were spied on by Pegasus software" and are justified by "the seriousness of the facts that led to the opening of a criminal investigation.

And the judge continued, "Because of all this, (Morocco's) request is rejected," and the decision also bears the costs of litigation on the kingdom.