The declassified documents reveal the reason for spying on the president of the Generalitat
The documents declassified by the Spanish government confirm that the National Intelligence Center (CNI) monitored the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, through the Pegasus program for his alleged relationship with the CDR, which together with the Democratic Tsunami led the mobilizations in Catalonia after of the 1-O ruling. This information became known the day before the former director of the CNI, Paz Esteban, testified before the judge regarding the complaint filed by Aragonès for espionage.
The Pegasus case broke out in May 2022, when the director of the CNI was dismissed and new data was leaked about the use of this spyware by the Spanish secret services. The information published by elmon.cat already indicated then that Aragonès had been one of the CNI’s targets due to his alleged links with the CDR. Now, declassified documents corroborate this. They explain the reason why the monitoring of Aragonès was authorized, who received a copy of the documentation in the framework of the complaint he filed for espionage. However, Presidency sources consulted by elmon.cat assure that the documentation is incomplete and that it does not clarify all the doubts about the case.
The Spanish government only declassified the “essential” about the espionage of Aragonès
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, appeared at the Defense Commission to explain the “partial” declassification of the documents on the espionage of Aragonès. Robles affirmed that the declassification was done ten days ago “without stinginess” so that the former director of the CNI could answer the questions asked of her. Likewise, she defended that the use of Pegasus was made “with judicial authorization” and that the Spanish government acted “with transparency.”
Esquerra Republicana, disappointed with the declassified material
The declassification of the documents has not satisfied Esquerra Republicana, which has criticized the Spanish government for “creating expectations” that have not been met. ERC deputy Francesc-Marc Álvaro reproached the minister for saying that Sánchez’s executive “has not made it easier” for the case to be clarified and warned her that, if it has not done so, Esquerra “understands that they are hindering” the judicial work. Furthermore, he stressed that it is “a question of democratic quality” that “espionage mechanisms are not used against political adversaries.” He also asked him why the Spanish State has not resorted to diplomatic channels with Israel, as France did, to clarify the matter regarding Pegasus.
