The independence movement will denounce Pegasus’ espionage in Spain, France, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Germany

The MEP and former President of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemontand the former vice president and leader of ERC, Oriol Junquerasannounced legal action in the European Parliament this Tuesday in SpainFrance, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Germany for the spy case With the program Pegasus to pro-independence leaders, discovered in an investigation by the cybersecurity platform ‘CitizenLab’.

In a press conference of the European Parliament in Brussels, Puigdemont announced that in the coming days they will bring lawsuits against those responsible, starting with the technology company NSO, before the courts in Barcelona, ​​​​but also before the courts of other countries of the European Union where the alleged cyber-attacks took place, in the case of France, Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

In addition, the former President of the Generalitat and MEP has asked the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to “act urgently” and hold Spain accountable for using the Pegasus program against political rivals, which is a ” violation” means. mass of fundamental rights”.

For Puigdemont, the Spanish government must be “responsible” for this “plot”. “It’s a whole system that’s corrupt and it’s that system that we need to bring to justice,” he said.

Puigdemont: ‘It is an entire system that is corrupt’

For his part, the ERC leader has emphasized that his political education will be “demanding” with Pedro Sánchez’s Executive and has assured that he must provide explanations because “he has a responsibility to know if his organs are using it”.

“He has a duty to explain it not only in Congress and the Senate, but also in other institutional spheres, including in the European Parliament,” Junqueras said.

As to whether this case will affect the political negotiating table between the Generalitat and the government, Esquerra’s leader has stressed that the dialogue process is “a useful tool” that “he will not give up”.

Junqueras has stressed that cases such as the possible use of Pegasus against Catalan leaders are causing the independence movement to “gather political capital” in the face of the international community.

Together with Puigdemont and Junqueras, the CitizenLab researcher appeared John Scott Railtonwho conducted the investigation, and the former UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression David Kayeas well as the leaders of the civil entities ANC and Ómnium Cultural and a deputy to the CUP.

More than two years of research

Railton explained how the investigation took just over two years, which revealed that more than 60 independence leaders were targeted by this software that takes control of the infected device, often without the victim’s knowledge. of it.

The researcher pointed out how the ‘spyware’ sometimes entered the device via text messages that apparently came from airlines – after buying a flight – or from the Spanish Treasury or Social Security, with “very persuasive messages” and they sometimes contain specific information about the victim.

Railton has said that while the investigation has not been able to establish with certainty who is behind this spying, there are details that “they refer to different entities within the Spanish state”

They are, for example, the fact that the victims were “of obvious importance” to Spain and that the dates when the devices were infected fit key dates in the Catalan pro-independence process when the Catalan authorities promoted the referendum in 2017.

Kaye, for his part, has called for a moratorium on the use of these types of programs and for “serious questions” to be addressed, such as whether spyware can be used in accordance with international human rights law, whether there are rules about its use, or whether there are victims receive compensation and whether states monitor their use.