Esquerra applauds the first-time indictment of NSO group in a case affecting political representatives

Esquerra Republicana announced on Wednesday the latest development in the legal cases on espionage of the independence movement using Pegasus: the indictment of three executives from the NSO group — the Israeli firm that supplies the Pegasus spyware — for the espionage on political representatives. The indictment has been made regarding the legal cases on the infection of the mobile phones of the leader of Esquerra's group in the Catalan Parliament, Josep Maria Jové, and Esquerra’s spokesperson at the European Parliament, Diana Riba.

Mr Jové and Ms Riba applauded this step, since it is the first time the creator of Pegasus has been indicted in cases involving political representatives. Esquerra therefore considers it an “unprecedented milestone” in that it is a step forward in the defence of the rights of citizens’ representatives.

Esquerra’s representatives highlighted the progress made in the defence of rights and freedoms and applauded the work done by Esquerra’s legal team. Likewise, they have called for continuing the efforts to clear any obstacles regarding the protection of freedom for all citizens.

Indeed, during the press conference on Wednesday, Esquerra also announced that their parliamentary group in Madrid will demand that the Spanish government declassify the Pegasus case in a battery of questions introduced in Congress. This follows the disclosure on Monday of investigations by the Irídia Centre for the Defence of Human Rights, calling on the Cabinet to stop hindering the progress of the proceedings in the hearings.

Among their demands, they have required information on whether the Executive will declassify the information to facilitate the investigations. They also want to know what measures it will take to guarantee real democratic oversight on the Spanish National Intelligence Center CNI, and what compensation the victims will receive. They also demand political responsibility if the involvement of the intelligence services is confirmed.

Esquerra have criticised the Government in Madrid for invoking the Official Secrets Act of 1967 — passed during the Franco dictatorship — to prevent former CNI officials from appearing at hearings, an attitude that counters international recommendations.

Esquerra member of the Catalan Parliament and spokesperson on matters regarding repression, Joan Ignasi Elena, emphasised that “an advanced democracy must be the first to show interest in all this being clarified, and thus in declassifying all the documents.”