Hacked Moroccan reporter investigated for espionage
Journalist believes police summons is related to recent revelations
Three days after a group of 16 international news outlets, including the Star, revealed that the Moroccan government had spied on journalist Omar Radi by hacking his phone, Radi is being investigated for espionage.
On Wednesday evening, Radi received a police summons to report for questioning Thursday morning.
The Royal Public Prosecutor at Casablanca’s Court of appeal confirmed that Radi is under investigation for “obtaining funds from foreign sources related to intelligence groups.”
“The Royal public prosecutor confirms that the investigation is being conducted under the supervision of the public prosecution and is completely abiding by the laws,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Amnesty International analyzed Radi’s phone and concluded that it had been hacked and the journalist had been spied on by the Moroccan government for almost a year, using spyware developed by the Israeli company NSO Group. Amnesty shared its analysis with Forbidden Stories, an investigative journalism group that co-ordinated reports that appeared around the world on Sunday.
That the victim of spying has now been accused of spying is “absolutely ridiculous,” Radi said.
“This is clearly linked to recent revelations by Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories that my phone was spied on by Morocco using Israeli technology,” he said.
“I’m not afraid of anything, I’m going in with my head held high. My goal is to reveal through my journalism the injustices and the true reality of Morocco and to campaign for a better Morocco as an activist.”
Radi faces interrogation and potential arrest and detention when he reports to the police Thursday.
Shortly after Radi tweeted a photo of his summons, Amnesty responded with a statement on Twitter.
“Amnesty stands in solidarity with Omar who has shown throughout the years his commitment to a journalism free of any allegiance. We call on the authorities to fulfil its duty to protect the right to freedom of expression and to immediately stop harassing journalists. #pressfreedom”
Radi was the victim of a new, insidious phone hacking technique called network injection. Unlike previously publicized phone hacking techniques that require the victim to click on a link or receive a call on WhatsApp, the attacker gained access to everything on Radi’s phone and all Radi had to do was visit a website.
Every phone call, text message, even encrypted messages on apps like Signal, were compromised. Details of his converstations appeared in Moroccan media and Radi suspects the police of leaking them.
After the publication of Amnesty’s report, NSO Group said it was “deeply troubled by the allegations” and would investigate “if warranted.”
NSO only sells its cyber-surveilance technology to police forces and governments in order to combat terrorism. Last September, it published a human rights policy that stipulated clients would be cut off if they were found to be spying on journalists or activists.