Catalan personalities bugged in Switzerland
Catalan independence movement
Eavesdropping scandal reaches Switzerland – two politicians in exile in Geneva and one in Zug are also spied on
Over 60 people linked to the Catalan pro-independence movement were bugged, according to a research group. Among them are three people who live in Switzerland.
The mobile phones of over 60 Catalan politicians, journalists and lawyers are said to have been tapped between 2017 and 2020. This was discovered by the Canadian research group Citizen Lab in mid-April. The espionage operations took place after Catalonia declared independence, triggering a political crisis in Spain.
Now it turns out that three people who live in Switzerland are also affected by the wiretapping scandal, as the French-speaking Swiss newspapers did on Wednesday «Tribune de Geneve» and «Le Temps» makes public. Two of the people are politicians from Barcelona who faced accusations of rebellion in Spain and fled into exile in Geneva in 2018.
They are Anna Gabriel, who was a member of the Left Party CUP and now heads the Geneva section of the Unia trade union, and Marta Rovira. Even in exile, she continues to hold the post of general secretary of the Catalan party Esquerra Republicana.
Identity of the Swiss faked
According to Citizen Lab’s report, Marta Rovira became a victim of spying after clicking on links in a sent SMS. The senders pretend to be the Basel non-governmental organization Swisspeace and the Geneva Center for Security Policy research center, but in fact infiltrated Rovira’s phone with the Pegasus spy software. In a statement, Swisspeace was “horrified” at the incident that had been uncovered and condemned the use of the peace organization for illegal purposes.
A Catalan blockchain computer scientist working in Zug was also monitored using a similar scam. According to Citizen Lab, he is said to have received at least 26 infection attempts, including from senders claiming to be the Swiss airline.
It is unclear who is behind the espionage activities. According to Citizen Lab, there are indications of a connection to the Spanish authorities. The Catalan separatist leaders also blame the Spanish government. In support of these theses is the fact that the Pegasus spy software from the unlimited company NSO Group is only sold to law enforcement agencies and secret services. The software allows listening to conversations and accessing the entire history of a mobile phone.
Attorney General has no comment
If Spain were actually behind the wiretapping, the authority for espionage on Swiss soil would have had to obtain Switzerland’s approval. As the Federal Office of Justice has confirmed to CH Media, no corresponding request for legal assistance has been received from Spain.
It remains to be seen whether the federal prosecutor’s office will intervene. They could open criminal proceedings, but did not want to comment on the case to the French-speaking Swiss press.