Spain: Morocco Cleared of Pegasus Case by National Counter-Espionage Agency

Friday 22 March 2024 - 11:41

In a highly anticipated report, the Spanish Counter-Espionage Agency, under the Office of the Prime Minister, has completely exonerated the Kingdom of Morocco of all allegations of espionage and interference in Spain's internal affairs. This report puts an end to speculations and accusations that had targeted Morocco, suspected of hacking the phones of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and other high-ranking officials using the controversial Pegasus software.

The conclusions of this official report definitively dismiss these suspicions, removing any ambiguity regarding the innocence of the Moroccan Kingdom in this affair with international ramifications. It is worth recalling that as early as November 2022, during hearings before a European Parliament inquiry on Pegasus, senior Spanish representatives had already dismissed these allegations against their southern neighbor.

This decision by Spanish counter-espionage services reinforces the case closed in July by the National Court, the country's highest judicial body, due to insufficient evidence to support the initial accusations of Moroccan espionage via Pegasus.

With this complete and official rehabilitation of Morocco, a new chapter opens in the bilateral relations between the two neighboring kingdoms, allowing them to definitively turn the page on this thorny issue that had once poisoned their diplomatic ties.