Spanish authorities have detected “Pegasus” spyware in the mobile phones of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Defence Minister Margarita Robles. The government minister for the presidency, Felix Bolanos, said on Monday.
Bolanos told a news conference Sanchez`s phone infect in May 2021 and at least one data leak occurred then. He did not say who could have been spying on the premier. Or whether foreign or Spanish groups suspect of being behind it.
“The interventions were illicit and external. External means carry out by non-official bodies and without state authorisation,” he said, adding that the infections report to the justice ministry, and the High Court would be in charge of the case.
The announcement follows intense pressure on the leftist coalition government to explain itself after Canada`s digital rights group Citizen Lab said more than 60 people link to the Catalan separatist movement had targets of “Pegasus” spyware made by Israel`s NSO Group.
After the allegations of spying on members of the Catalan separatist movement. The minority government`s key ally in parliament, Catalonia`s leftist pro-independence party ERC, said it would not support the government until Madrid takes measures to restore confidence.
Pere Aragones, the separatist Catalan regional president, said on Monday in a statement: “When the mass surveillance is against the Catalan independence movement, we only hear silence and excuses. Today everything is done in a hurry.
“But the double standard here is clear. It seems that against the independence movement anything is accepted.”
The European Union`s data watchdog has called for a ban on Pegasus over allegations. It abuse by client governments to spy on rights activists, journalists and politicians.
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