Brussel·lesIndependence and unionism have long since transferred their usual struggles to the Pegasus investigation committee of the Eurochamber and are trying to get the European Parliament to decide on their side in Catalangate. After months of back-and-forth, however, Ciutadans, the PSOE, the PP and Vox have failed in their attempt to remove from the Pegasus report the main criticisms of mode of operation of the State against independence, although they have managed to lower the tone of the document. The European Parliament committee has taken for granted this Monday, in the vote on the final conclusions, that the Spanish government is behind Catalangate and has confirmed its position: the spying on 65 Catalan political and civil society leaders is unjustified, the CitizenLab’s information has credibility and the Spanish government has collaborated in a “limited” manner in the investigation.
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The final text – approved with 30 votes in favor, three against and four abstentions – points out that in no case has it been possible to demonstrate that the pro-independence “were an imminent threat to national security or the integrity of the State”, even if it was in “moments of political relevance” of the Process. Regarding the 18 spies with judicial authorization, the Eurochamber notes that some “had faced criminal charges before being attacked [per Pegasus]but no criminal charges have been brought against any of them as a result” of the spying.
The Pegasus commission also ratifies confidence in Citizenlab and the various international media that exposed the Catalangate scandal, despite the fact that unionism wanted to discredit them. “Unbelievably, some Spanish politicians have tried to discredit CitizenLab and have suggested that its methods are weak or that they are politically motivated,” criticizes the text. In this way, although he accepts that the Eurochamber does not have the capacity to ratify that up to 65 Catalans were illegally spied on by the State, he does “assume” that, “on the basis of a series of indicators, some of which were admitted to the Official Secrets commission [del Congrés dels Diputats]”, was “carried out by the Spanish authorities”.
In addition, the final report once again highlights the lack of cooperation from the various member states involved in the use of Pegasus and, specifically, criticizes Spain for not providing more information to the Eurochamber investigation. “The Spanish government has so far provided limited information about its role in these cases and has cited the need for confidentiality in relation to national security and legal obligations,” the report notes.
The Eurochamber wants to involve Europol
Beyond the final text on the investigation, which is now definitive, the Committee’s recommendations addressed to the various member states where there have been Pegasus cases and to the various European institutions, which are still subject to amendments and have to go through the plenary session of the Eurochamber at the beginning of next month. In this second text, the Pegasus committee assures that “some reforms are necessary” to “fully” respect “fundamental rights”, and asks the Spanish government to carry out a “complete and in-depth investigation” into Catalangate and to guarantee the victims access to justice. In addition, they urge Europol to work with the state authorities, and also the Spanish ones, to speed up and clarify the different Pegasus cases.
ERC sees the glass half full and Junts, half empty
Republican MEP Diana Riba has celebrated the final report and having “dropped amendments” from the various unionist parties that, for example, wanted to link the Democratic Tsunami movement with terrorism. “Catalangate is clearly illegal in the eyes of Europe”, insisted Riba. However, the former president of the Generalitat Carles Puigdemont has abstained from voting on the conclusions of the investigation and has voted against the recommendations. Although he sees with good eyes that the text points out that espionage is a “very serious political fact that affects the integrity of democratic decision-making”, he criticized that the report defines Spain as a state with “an independent judicial system and with sufficient guarantees”.
In any case, unionism has had to be content with withdrawing the word victim in reference to those spied on by thegoal and has harshly criticized the Pegasus commission. “We have managed to eliminate toxic concepts and falsehoods, but we have not been able to eliminate bad faith. I’m sure that its promoters know that what this report says is not true”, the Ciudadans MEP Jordi Cañas, one of those who had presented more amendments to the initial text, told the media. As for the PP, MEP Juan Ignacio Zoido has criticized the Spanish government for not having cooperated enough with the European Parliament’s investigation and attributed the fact that the report states that Spanish institutions comply with the standards democratic that marks the European Union.
Source: Ara.cat – Portada by www.ara.cat.
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