The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robleshas denied this Tuesday all the accusations of illegal espionage by the State against independentistas and has closed ranks with the National Intelligence Center (CNI), whose director, Paz Esteban, has assured that she will provide all the information before the official secrets commission congressional.
Robles answered three questions on Tuesday in the Senate about the alleged espionage on independence leaders through the ‘Pegasus’ program and has guaranteed that the Government and all its public bodies comply with the law. “Perhaps not everyone can say the same”, challenged the spokesman for Junts per Catalunya, Josep Lluís Cleries.
The minister has also lamented that “unfounded” and “frivolous” accusations are being made against the CNI and the government. “We are in a rule of law, it is not enough to come here and make insinuations without any evidence,” she has argued, encouraging the nationalists to take the matter to court. There, she has assured that the Executive will lend its full collaboration, but she has warned that the false complaint and accusation are also crimes.
Robles has come out against all criticism by denying any accusation of illegal espionage and taking refuge in the secrecy that governs the actions of the CNI. For this reason, he has summoned the director of the espionage center to be the one to give explanations before the Reserved Expenses Commission whose constitution has been unblocked in Congress.
Both Cleries and the senators of Bildu Gorka Elejabarrieta and ERC Mirella Cortès have directly pointed out the responsibility of the State in what they have called “the biggest democratic scandal” in the country, before which they have asked for responsibilities, public investigations and details to be purged from what has occured.
“This is a massive violation of fundamental rights. Either they investigate and purge responsibilities or they are accomplices,” warned Cleríes, who warned that an internal investigation by the CNI is not enough and insisted that “everything points” to the State is behind this espionage.
“I can say it louder, clearer, in Spanish or Catalan. The Government acts in scrupulous compliance with the law,” responded Robles, who has avoided entering “lucubrations.” “I’m not used to giving an opinion on what the media says. I don’t know the New Yorker, I don’t know what sources it uses, I don’t give an opinion on private reports that I don’t know when, who does it, or why they take it out now,” he said about the investigation.
In this sense, he has insisted that one cannot “stain the name of thousands of people” who work to guarantee the safety of Spaniards with “generic accusations”, even speaking of information whose origin is unknown or may be “remote controlled”.
The sewers of the State and the CNI
However, the Bildu senator has been sure that this espionage “is still being carried out” today and has insisted that he has no doubt that the State is the one behind it. “In the face of such a serious event, the ostrich technique or pilgrim excuses are not valid”, he has warned the Government asking that what happened be clarified “whoever falls”.
“The Government complies with the law, will continue to comply with the law and have no doubt that in a rule of law such as Spain, when a criminal act is committed, there are judicial procedures and judges who are the only ones who can say that a crime has been committed”, The minister replied.
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The ERC spokeswoman has also insisted that “everything points” to espionage coming from “the sewers of the State and the CNI” and has warned that the Government’s response is “insufficient”, since she believes that it is ” a dirty war against independence” that must be resolved with full transparency.
Robles has once again “flatly” denied all the accusations and has insisted that, when the congressional secrets commission is constituted, “everything will appear there.”