Catalan leader demands probe into alleged Spanish spying using Israeli tech
MADRID, Spain — The speaker of the Catalan regional
parliament demanded Tuesday that the Spanish government launch an official
investigation into reports that his cellphone was the target of espionage,
allegedly by Spanish security services using Israeli-made software.
Roger Torrent, a leading supporter of Catalonia’s efforts to
break away from Spain and become an independent country, said the reports
“prove what we already knew: that the Spanish state spies on its political
opponents.”
Demanding an investigation, he said in a televised
statement, “It’s important for the truth to come out.”
A report published Tuesday by El Pais and The Guardian said
Torrent was warned last year that his phone had been targeted by spyware that,
according to its maker, the Israeli company NGO group, is sold only to
governments and national security services.
The Spanish and British newspapers cited a US lawsuit
involving the spyware, which, they reported, exploited an earlier vulnerability
in WhatsApp and could potentially provide access to everything on a person’s
cell phone. The reports provided no evidence that Torrent’s phone was hacked.
Two other well-known pro-independence figures in Catalonia
were also targeted, according to the reports. Catalonia’s efforts to separate
from Spain have long been a thorn in the side of Spanish governments.
Spain’s intelligence service, known by its acronym CNI,
declined to answer questions about the allegations.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s office said in a statement
that the government was not aware that the three phones might have been hacked.
It added that any such step would require a judge’s authorization.
According to the two newspapers, WhatsApp believes the
attacks occurred in April and May last year. Over a two-week period, the
newspapers reported, 1,400 WhatsApp users were allegedly targeted by the
‘Pegasus’ spyware, sold by NSO Group.
Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, acknowledged attacks happened
at the time Torrent’s phone was allegedly targeted, but gave no further
details. The company is taking legal action against NSO in connection with the
attacks.
The Republican Left of Catalonia, a political party that
wants Catalan independence and which includes Torrent in its ranks, and the
pro-independence coalition JxCat demanded Tuesday that Interior Minister
Fernando Grande-Marlaska appear urgently before a parliamentary committee to
answer questions about the reports.
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