The commission of investigation of the espionage with Pegasus and Candiru of the Parlament had summoned for today's session eleven high or former high officials of the State and of Catalonia -among whom, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and several ministers- so that they intervene as witnesses on the cases uncovered by CitizenLab that affected pro-independence leaders. However, only one of them has accepted the request of the Catalan chamber: the ex-síndic de Greuges, Rafael Ribó. The rest have either declined the invitation or have not appeared without even issuing any response.
As explained by the president of the Pegasus commission, the ERC deputy Josep Maria Jové, at the beginning of the session, the president Pedro Sánchez and the state attorney general, Álvaro García Ortiz, have not gone to Parliament and have not even responded to the written request that the chamber sent them.
At the same time, the ministers Nadia Calviño, Yolanda Díaz, Fernando Grande-Marlaska and Margarita Robles and the former minister Carmen Calvo rejected the commission's request by letter. All of them, with the same text, were grateful for the proposal, but they hid behind various opinions of the Council of State to verify that they did not have the obligation to attend Parliament. Likewise, they wished "the greatest success" to this body, as revealed by Jové. The former delegate of the Government in Catalonia, Teresa Cunillera, also warned of her absence with a letter with the same content.
The commission of investigation into the espionage of political representatives, activists and journalists had also summoned for this Friday the Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo, and the Supreme Court judge Pablo Lucas. The first referred to the report that he had already published some time ago to argue that he "had nothing more to add", while the magistrate used the law on official secrets and the CNI to excuse his absence.
The representatives of ERC, Junts and the CUP have expressed their discomfort at the planting and rudeness and have blamed the Spanish government for a lack of "political will" and "institutional collaboration". Now the Parliament will send a second request to summon those who have been absent.
The person who has attended today is Rafael Ribó, as an expert, who was Ombudsman for 18 years (2004-2018). Ribó has exposed the report that he carried out in the final stretch of his term in the Ombudsman, which concluded that the revealed espionage represented an "attack on the fundamental rights of those affected."
The commission was created last September, after the joint request made by ERC, Junts, comunes and the CUP. The PSC also participates in the sessions, unlike the PP and Cs, who opted not to attend, and Vox, who appointed two representatives without having intervened today or in the last session.
At the January meeting, the commission agreed to some eighty appearances. Apart from those that were scheduled for today, the Parliament intends to receive experts -such as members of international organizations, lawyers or specialists in human rights- and more witnesses. This list includes the former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, his former Vice President Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, the also former Vice President Pablo Iglesias, the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, or the former directors of the CNI, Félix Sanz Roldán and Esperanza Casteleiro, among many others.
The first appearances of the commission were made in January. The protagonists were the lawyers of the pro-independence politicians affected by the use of Pegasus, Gonzalo Boye, Andreu Van den Eynde and Benet Salellas. The commission has a work plan with an expected duration of one year. At the end of this period, the chamber will debate and vote on the resulting opinion.
