The latest revelations from the Citizen Lab, linked to the University of Toronto, on the alleged espionage of 67 leaders of Catalan independence parties through the computer program pegasus have shaken the political map based on denunciations of facts that would be clearly criminal in any democracy and that they should be investigated where appropriate. The investigation carried out by a court in Barcelona must go to the end and the prosecution must defend the fundamental rights of the victims of espionage as citizens of a State of law that they are by virtue of the Spanish nationality they hold.
And the same if, as announced yesterday, new complaints are filed and new cases are opened. That should be streamlined and not be held up by any of the parties involved. And the rest of the State institutions, beginning with the Government, they have a duty to collaborate with justice and, if it is the case, push for clarification of political responsibilities by action or omission that may arise from the facts that are proven. In this sense, the request for an appearance that the Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, has already formulated in Congress to explain the shadows that hang over the CNI in this issue.
A part of the independence movement intends to use propagandistically these suspicions, from a syllogism: if Pegasus is a wiretapping program that only governments can acquire and it has been proven that it has been used with the telephone terminals of 67 independentistas, the person in charge is undoubtedly the Spanish Government and if some of those punctures were made in 2019, Pedro Sánchez is not trustworthy to dialogue . Requiring an investigation is mandatory, anticipate the results and ask for political action accordingly in simply a apriority of those who legitimately do not believe in dialogue.
That only serves to put pressure on Esquerra to drop the coalition government. A position that is also politically legitimate but that can hardly convince those who were not previously convinced. Esquerra has reacted without throwing in the dialogue towel but being picky with the Government of Sanchez. And this must answer helping to clarify the facts, collaborating with the justice system, purging political responsibilities, if any, and betting again and again on the dejudicialization of politics in Catalonia and on dialogue with content. In this way it would be a sign of normality that the table between governments be convened to forge some agreements with important content that are at an advanced stage of negotiation.
Public opinion in Catalonia and in Spain should be capable of remove noise. Silencing this issue does nothing more than give wings to the most bitter version of independence, the one that is victimized when excesses are committed but also when they do not exist. And the state should have more self-confidence.
Wiretapping in search of alleged criminal acts is perfectly legal under judicial authorization. There is no need, therefore, to resort to illegal methods. If that legal path is not followed the thing is what is pursued are ideas or the political formations to obtain advantages in the democratic confrontation. And if someone thinks that this is the solution, they must be clear that it is the problem, because it discredits the institutions and because, in addition, it acts as a cohesive element of an independence movement that is torn between institutionality and activism.