'Pegasus case' judge rebukes Israel for failing to report on spyware maker

The judge in the

, which is investigating the alleged espionage of members of the Government in 2021 with the Israeli telephone intrusion program, has asked the ministers whose phones were infected (Margarita Robles, of Defense, and Fernando Grande-Marlaska, head of the Interior ) to clarify how they want to testify, whether in person, remotely or in writing.

In an order made public this Wednesday morning, José Luis Calama also demands that the Government of Israel respond to the rogatory commission issued on May 5 and submit reports that it considers "essential for the cause" about the company NSO Group, a manufacturer of the

spy.

The magistrate reveals that the Government is not going to declassify any document on this matter, because "the reports made by the CNI do not contain any element that is classified as secret or reserved" because they do not compromise "the security of the State, nor the sources, means and procedures” of

The main purpose of the order is, in principle, to clarify how the ministers are going to declare before setting the date.

But the letter devotes more space to claiming Israel's response and explaining the reason for the non-declassification of documents than to that summons.

The magistrate has sent a reminder to the Israeli Government so that it responds once and for all to the rogatory commission, a procedure that legal sources see as little less than impossible for the Hebrew authorities to complete.

Calama recalls that he agreed to claim the information in May, and that a month later he extended to request permission from the Israeli judges to visit the country and take a statement, as requested from the beginning, from the CEO of NSO Group.

The magistrate explains that on August 24 he received a notification from the Executive, informing him that he would not declassify any CNI document on the

because the analyzes carried out in this regard by the intelligence service do not compromise the security of the State. .

This criterion would affect the two reports from the National Intelligence Center (CNI) on the

of the telephones of the holders of the Interior and Defense, which were found to have been accessed by someone using the Pegasus program.

Robles already advanced in statements to journalists at the beginning of August his intention, and that of the head of the Interior portfolio, to testify before Judge Calama in writing, as Félix Bolaños, Minister of the Presidency, Relations with the Cortes and Democratic Memory.

“Our idea is to do it in writing because the law allows that possibility.

We want to fully collaborate with justice," Robles said upon arrival at the Torrejón de Ardoz base, although the Defense Minister assured that she and Marlaska, as they were harmed by the espionage on their phones, "little" can contribute to the cause.