The European Parliament voted on Thursday on the creation of a special committee of inquiry into the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus or other surveillance software in the EU, including Hungary, Poland, and Spain.
The initiative will see the EU investigation include Morocco as a country with alleged involvement in cyber espionage on European officials.
The proposal, submitted by liberal group Renew Europe and made available to Spanish daily El Español, raises the possibility of “establishing a fact-finding mission to Morocco as soon as possible.”
The document is based on the findings of Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International on the “illegal use of surveillance technologies by Moroccan authorities against civil society” in Morocco and Western Sahara.
This initiative comes shortly after a request made by the EU’s Spanish MP from the Ciudadanos party to the European Parliament’s Committee of Inquiry to involve Morocco in its investigation of Pegasus.
This committee, decided by 635 votes of MEPs meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg is set up on the proposal of the Conference of Presidents, bringing together President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and leaders of political groups.
36 representatives voted against the creation of the investigation committee, while 20 abstained.
The committee will have 38 members and twelve months to deliver its final report and recommendations.
Back in July 2021, a consortium of international media revealed that at least 180 journalists, 600 politicians, 85 human rights activists, and 65 business leaders had been spied on using Pegasus, a software program developed by the private Israeli company NSO.
This computer tool, considered a weapon by the Israeli defense, which must give the green light to its export, can remotely activate the cameras and microphones on a smartphone.
Recently, it had been revealed that over 200 Spanish officials’ phones had been compromised and targeted by the software.
Spanish authorities, however, refused to allege on the identity of the unnamed NSO client, as speculations pointing to Morocco mounted from opposition members.
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