Ex-president Artur Mas to file criminal complaint over Pegasus spying

Former Catalan President Artur Mas has confirmed that he will file a criminal lawsuit against those responsible for the so-called Operation Catalonia and the surveillance of pro-independence political leaders.

He revealed this on Monday afternoon in the Spanish Congress, where he was giving testimony to a committee investigating the affair.

"I have decided to file a criminal complaint against all those who caused such great harm to our democratic system during those years" Mas explained, calling it a "political obligation."

Spied on for five years

Mas was spied on using Pegasus spyware for five years, from July 2015 to May 2020.

He was already named in the 2022 Citizen Lab report, which revealed that around 65 Catalan politicians and figures from civil society had been targeted.

Catalan broadcaster Rac 1 has now revealed detailed information about how Mas was spied on, naming him the first Pegasus victim in Spain and the second in the world.

The former president's phone was infected 32 different times, often coinciding with major political events or meetings.

Mas and former Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría appeared before the congressional committee investigating Operation Catalonia on Monday.

Sáenz de Santamaría was in charge of the CNI (Spanish intelligence agency) from 2011 to 2018.

Mas targeted

Mas's phone was first infected in July 2015, when he was still Catalan president. According to a previously unpublished Citizen Lab report obtained by Rac 1, the infections coincided with significant political developments.

The first documented attack was on July 14, 2015, the day pro-independence parties CDC and ERC reached an agreement to form the joint Junts pel Sí (JxSí, Together for Yes) list for the Catalan elections.

Subsequent infections occurred on key dates, such as August 3, 2015, when Mas announced Catalan elections for September 27, 2015; on the day of the election itself; on July 4, 2016, during a private meeting with then-president Carles Puigdemont; and again in February 2020 during another meeting with Puigdemont, this time in Waterloo, Belgium.

Pegasus software can extract all data from an infected phone and can remotely activate the phone's microphone and camera.

Lawsuit

"Today is a very significant formal step. I didn't want to file the lawsuit before my appearance. I want to see how it goes before making a final decision," he explained earlier on Monday.

Mas also said he does not know who spied on him for five years using Pegasus spyware, noting that he does not appear on the list of individuals authorized for surveillance by the CNI.

"I don't know who ordered it, because I'm not on the CNI's list. I don't know who spied on me, who has the data, or how it has been used. It's a total violation," he added.

Former intelligence chief denies all knowledge

In her testimony on Monday, former Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría denied having "any knowledge" of the creation of the so-called "patriotic police," or of the existence of Operation Catalonia.

She also said she had no knowledge of the spying on Artur Mas.

Speaking before the congressional committee investigating the People's Party government's dirty war against the Catalan independence movement, she stated that she "never gave any instruction to create any kind of ‘patriotic police’ or to investigate anyone."

"My only instructions to my team were always to comply with the constitution and the law," she said.