The Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, has accused the independence supporters of being "victims" taking advantage of the alleged Pegasus case and now creating a scandal "when they have never before been seen defending the basic principles of the rule of law or the rights and freedoms of all citizens."
In response to the CUP spokeswoman, Mireia Vehí, the Minister of Defense stated: "Since you are tearing your hair out, I ask you what a State and a Government have to do when someone violates the Constitution, when someone declares independence, when someone cuts off public roads and carries out public disorder, when someone has relations with political leaders of a country that is invading Ukraine. You are not saying anything about this. When organizations like SEPES are hacked and it prevents workers from being able to get paid, when There have also been hacks of ministers' phones, I haven't heard him say anything. It all sounds like hypocrisy on his part."
The minister's words have been interpreted by the Chamber as a justification for espionage that, for many, would have been justified at the time the attack on the State took place with the holding of the illegal referendum on 1-O and the unilateral declaration of independence, but not now when this same Government pardoned the protagonists of that attack against the unity of the nation and even elevated them to the category of preferred partners.
"Hopefully we'll set up that [Official Secrets] commission soon and we can talk about Pegagus yes or Pegasus no, and I tell you that many would be surprised," assured Robles, who assured that everything that affects the CNI, its media and its staff is subject to secrecy and has legal protection.
Thus, he has stressed that article 5 of the 2002 law, on Official Secrets, is what prevents him from giving a single piece of information about it.
The PNV has requested the immediate declassification of documents and then the repeal of that law.
For the PNV spokesman, Aitor Esteban, this issue should interest "everyone who believes in a State and a democratic system."
In his opinion, in the Secrets Commission, which will be constituted after Sánchez asked the president of Congress, Meritxell Batet, to change the majority for the election of its members at a stroke of the pen, "absolutely nothing will be solved", as well it has always happened.
Esteban, who, in his parliamentary career, has attended several sessions of this commission in other legislatures, has assured that no secrets or really reserved information were revealed in any of them.
The Basque nationalist spokesman has consequently demanded a parliamentary investigation commission and has reproached Robles for having gone from being a "progressive judge" to a simple "applause of the State security forces and bodies".
"In the Secrets Commission nothing is going to be solved and if they think they are going to solve it with a mere session, two rounds of questions for each of the parliamentary spokespersons are wrong. And they will certainly damage the democratic system and its credibility if they do not act more forcefully, approve the investigation commission and declassify the documents," urged the PNV spokesman, Aitor Esteban.
The Minister of Defense has insisted before Esteban and later before the CUP deputy, Mireia Vehí, not to give credibility to the information from The Citizen Lab, published by the New Yorker magazine, revealing the alleged espionage with the Pegasus program on 65 people between presidents of the Generalitat, presidents of the Parliament, deputies, senators, lawyers and activists related to independence.
Robles has warned that they can attribute "even Manolete's death" to the CNI, but has criticized them for making all those accusations without evidence or based on "I don't know what report or I don't know what media."
"Present the evidence, where is the evidence?", challenged the Defense Minister, who has urged those affected to go to court if they believe that the laws have been violated.
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Margaret Oaks
GNP
Aitor Esteban
cup
Meritxell Batet
Ministry of Defence
Ukraine
Independence Catalonia