The National Intelligence Center (CNI) asked the Supreme Court, in July 2019, to authorize spying on the then Catalan vice president Pere Aragonès upon concluding that he “directed” the independence activists who subsequently led the protests against the sentence in the trial of
processes
, the so-called Committees for the Defense of the Republic (CDR).
That is the main revelation contained in the records of the high court that the Government declassified on the 16th and that this Thursday reached the hands of the Barcelona judge who is investigating the complaint presented by the
president
after learning that his cell phone was tracked using the
software.
Pegasus.
Aragonès' defense has described the explanation as “implausible” and sources close to the case assure that the documentation sent is incomplete and contains numerous deleted fragments.
The head of the investigative court number 29 of Barcelona has received three orders from the Supreme Court this Thursday, which make clear the chronology of the monitoring of the republican leader.
The documents arrive just the day before the former director of the CNI, Paz Esteban, appears there.
The Center's first request to spy on Aragonès was in July 2019 and was justified because he “directed” the CDR from “underground.”
Subsequently, two extensions were requested to continue with their investigations, one in October of that same year - coinciding with the protests in response to the Supreme Court ruling that condemned the leaders of the process - and another in January 2020 - in full negotiations to the investiture of Pedro Sánchez.
The documents, which according to sources close to the case are incomplete and with several illegible pages, indicate that Aragonès directed the steps of the activists "always outside of his institutional role."
When the monitoring was authorized for the first time, Aragonès was
number two
in Quim Torra's Executive and leader
in pectore
of ERC.
The records show the CNI's interest in defending that its request comes not because of the institutional role of the Catalan vice president but because of the leadership and coordination work of the activists who, for example, tried to occupy the El Prat Airport after hearing the Supreme Court ruling. about the
process.
The CDR, which on paper lacked leaders and was a spontaneous movement, began its activity in the fall of 2017, and was trying to ensure that the October 1 independence referendum, which the Constitutional Court declared at the time as illegal, would take place.
Subsequently, they organized acts of protest and boycott during episodes of maximum political tension in Catalonia.
Apart from the attempt to occupy the Airport - the National Court also places
former president
Carles Puigdemont and the general secretary of ERC, Marta Rovira, in the organization of the so-called Democratic Tsunami - they cut off roads and train tracks.
Sources from Pedro Sánchez's Executive have stated on Thursday night about the knowledge of these wiretaps: "They are caused by operations initiated by the CNI before we came to power and they always had judicial authorization."
From La Moncloa, these same sources state that “neither the CNI nor the Supreme Court have to inform, logically, the Government.”
And they add: “It was precisely this Government that has decided to collaborate with justice and declassify this information at the request of a judge, always within the limit of national security.
This information demonstrates that the rule of law now operates and acts with transparency.
Nothing to do with the parallel police and the dirty war of the PP stage.”
The scandal over spying on independentists came to light in April 2022, following a report carried out by Citizen Lab, a group linked to the University of Toronto (Canada) and specialized in cybersecurity.
According to this investigation carried out by this newspaper, at least 63 politicians, lawyers and pro-independence activists had been targeted by Pegasus on key days for the Catalan secessionist movement after 2017. The Government then explained that there were court orders to carry out some of the
hacks,
such as It was the case of Aragonès.
Sánchez himself and the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, also had their phones tapped by the same spy program.
In fact, the judge investigating the complaint filed by the
president
also requested the declassification of other CNI documents on the use of Pegasus, such as who authorized its purchase and who had access.
However, the Government denied that request considering it could compromise the security of the secret service agents.
Aragonès's entourage has described the CNI's justifications before the Supreme Court as "implausible" and they hope to know the content of Esteban's statement.
When the follow-up occurred, his party, ERC, had already distanced itself from the most radical part of the independence movement that demanded unilateral independence and that continued to claim the result of the October 1 vote as an endorsement to declare independence.
The lawyers assisting the president have already challenged the judicial secretary who is handling the case because she was part of the judicial commission that was sent to the Department of Economy in September 2017, and had to leave through the roof of the building arguing that the protest on the street against the registry made it impossible to leave the property safely.
You can follow EL PAÍS Catalunya on
and
X
, or sign up here to receive
our weekly newsletter
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
Keep reading
I am already a subscriber
_