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AFP
Roger Torrent has called for an investigation into the alleged espionage
A prominent Catalan independence politician accused the Spanish government of spying on his mobile phone.
Roger Torrent, president of the Catalan parliament, spoke after details of the alleged espionage were revealed in a joint investigation by the Guardian and El País newspapers.
Torrent said it was evidence of “political espionage against political opponents” in Spain.
Madrid has denied the allegations.
The Guardian and El Pais newspapers reported that Torrent had been warned that his phone was attacked last year using Pegasus, an Israeli-made spyware tool.
The creators of the tool say it is only sold to governments to track criminals and terrorists.
Torrent was warned about spyware by researchers working with WhatsApp.
Speaking Tuesday, Torrent called for a full investigation into what happened.
“This is the first time that we have concrete confirmation of what many of us knew and had denounced … We knew that the illegal practices were directed against the cause of independence. We now have certain evidence,” he said.
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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s office denied the allegations.
A spokeswoman told AFP news agency that the government did not know that Torrent and another former Catalan legislator “had suffered a hacking attack through their mobile phones.”
“In Spain, any intervention related to a mobile phone is always carried out legally,” he said.
Catalonia’s drive for independence has plunged Spain into its biggest political crisis in 40 years. Madrid suspended its autonomy for almost seven months after a failed attempt to separate in 2017.
In October last year, the Spanish Supreme Court sentenced nine Catalan politicians and activists to sentences of between nine and 13 years in prison for this attempt at independence.
