In a hasty press conference Monday morning, Félix Bolaños, the presidency minister, said that Sánchez’s phone was targeted in May and June 2021, while Robles’s in June 2021. The data was extracted from both phones. Bolanios said the “illegal” and “external” targeting would be investigated by Spain’s highest criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, adding that the targeting must have come from abroad as any such surveillance in Spain would require judicial permission. “These facts have been confirmed and are indisputable,” Bolaños said. “I do not think now is the time to get involved in speculation or speculation about what might have been the motive.” The phones of other members of the government are being examined to see if they too may have been targeted. The allegations come as the Spanish government raises questions about how Pegasus – which is sold by the Israeli company NSO Group – is allegedly being used to monitor dozens of members of the Catalan independence movement, including the president of the northeastern Spanish region. Pere Aragonès and three of his predecessors. Last month, Aragonès told the Guardian that the alleged targeting, revealed by Citizen Lab cybersecurity experts, was a violation of individual rights, an attack on democracy and a threat to political dissent. The Catalan regional government has pointed the finger at the Spanish National Intelligence Center (CNI), which insists its activities are overseen by the supreme court and that it acts “in full compliance with the legal system and in full compliance with applicable laws”. The Spanish government has promised an internal CNI investigation into the alleged targeting of Catalan activists, while the Spanish ombudsman has also launched an independent investigation. Aragon demanded the resignation of Robles, who oversees the CNI as defense minister, and his Catalan Republican Left Party threatened not to support the government in the national parliament. The Catalan president said in a statement: “Any political espionage is extremely serious. We reported espionage a few days ago, but we were not given an explanation by the Spanish government. When it comes to mass espionage of the Catalan institutions and the independence movement, everything was silence and excuses. With this, everything moves very fast. Responsibility must be proven immediately. A thorough, independent investigation remains urgent and must be taken seriously. “ The NSO Group said in a statement that it would investigate “any suspicion of misuse” of its software and would cooperate with any government investigation. “While we have not seen any information about this alleged abuse and are not familiar with the details of this particular case, NSO’s firm stance on these issues is that the use of cyber tools to monitor politicians, dissidents, activists and “Journalism is a serious abuse of any technology and runs counter to the desirable use of such critical tools,” said one spokesman. “NSO is a software provider. the company does not use the technology nor is it aware of the data collected. The company does not know and can not know what the goals of its customers are, however it implements measures to ensure that these systems are used exclusively for authorized uses. “ NSO Group claims that Pegasus is only sold to governments to track down criminals and terrorists. A joint poll by the Guardian and El País two years ago found that the president of Catalonia’s regional parliament and at least two other pro-independence activists had been warned that spyware had been used to target them. The NSO team was blacklisted in the United States in November 2021, three months after a consortium of journalists working with the French non-profit group Forbidden Stories uncovered numerous cases of journalists and activists being violated by foreign governments using spyware, including Americans. The Guardian and other members of the consortium also revealed that the mobile phone numbers of Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and almost his entire cabinet were on a list of people who had been leaked and selected as possible targets for surveillance. The NSO said its spyware was being used by foreign government clients to target serious criminals. She has also denied that any of her clients ever targeted Macron or any other French government official.
