How and why the CNI monitored Pere Aragonès with Pegasus and the approval of the Supreme Court
Papers declassified by the Spanish government reveal that the Spanish secret services suspected that the current president of the Generalitat was the coordinator of the CDRs, the groups that proclaimed themselves Committees for the Defense of the Republic. This has been corroborated by Nació, which asserts that the CNI thought that Aragonès was acting outside of his institutional role – at that time as vice president – and in a hidden manner.
This information comes to light a few hours before, this Friday, the former director of the intelligence services, Paz Esteban, will appear as a person under investigation for the complaint filed by the president of the Generalitat himself. The Spanish government removed her from the directorship of the CNI after the case, known as Catalangate, became public, and at the behest of her Catalan and Basque partners, on whom the viability of the legislature depends.
The Government considers the documentation “insufficient” and “unreal”
Government sources have told Nation that they find the documentation “totally insufficient”, as they say that there are deleted parts and stained pages, a circumstance that prevents correct reading in some cases. At the same time, from the executive they believe that the reason for monitoring the then vice-president of the Generalitat under the government of Quim Torra is “beyond all reality”.
The Council of Ministers decided last week to declassify the confidential documents of the espionage in Aragonès – as requested by the president himself and the judge in the case -, a key step so that Esteban’s statement this Friday can have some repercussion The lifting of the secrecy of this judicial resolution is relevant because it will allow official confirmation that the CNI uses the Pegasus software, according to legal sources consulted. Sources from the Spanish executive point out after the news the desire to “collaborate with justice” and contrast their “transparency” with the “dirty war” of the PP, since the espionage began before the arrival of the PSOE in Moncloa.
Robles defends that everything was done with judicial authorization and respect for the law
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, had already made progress this Thursday in an appearance in Congress that her government had sent the “absolutely essential” documentation to the court so that Esteban could testify. According to Robles, in this documentation “it is clear” that everything was done with judicial authorization and absolute respect for the law. The partially declassified interviews arrived this Thursday at the Barcelona court that is investigating the case.
So far, no resolution authorizing the interception of cell phones of independentists has been made public, although the CNI has admitted at least 18 cases of spying authorized by the judge in the framework of the official secrets commission. Some of these names, in addition to that of Aragonès, were Jordi Sànchez, Carles Riera, Elisenda Paluzie, Marcel Mauri and several people from Carles Puigdemont’s circle, such as Gonzalo Boye, Joan Matamala and Josep Lluís Alay.
