Spain’s government, led by conservative former prime minister Mariano Rajoy, reportedly orchestrated a smear campaign against Catalonia’s independence leader using fabricated evidence prepared by senior police officials.
The claim was made by La Vanguardia newspaper and the news site El Diario Es, which both show how Rajoy’s government used his knowledge to use police against political opponents. The results of a joint investigation that unearthed dozens of documents have been published.
According to a published report, former Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz provided incriminating information against senior Catalan politicians in the fall of 2012, just after massive street demonstrations in Barcelona highlighted the growing momentum of the independence movement. He has started collecting them.
To this end, he received so-called “information memos” from senior police officials and former Secretary of State for Security Francisco Martínez, many of which were subsequently passed on to the prime minister. According to ElDiario.es, the documents were “a type of unsigned and unsealed intelligence report, in which classified information obtained behind the scenes of the judge was combined with rumors, false information and excerpts from court documents.” .
One such memo claimed that then-Catalan regional president Arthur Mas, the most visible figure in the independence movement at the time, had large sums of money in bank accounts in Liechtenstein.
The anonymous document states that the independence movement is concerned about information that refers to “certain instances of self-enrichment by leaders, especially the AM.” [Artur Mas]He now calls himself the savior of his people. ”
The bank account allegations were leaked to the leading right-wing newspaper El Mundo, which published them on its front page just before a close Catalan election. However, that turned out to be wrong. Similar fabricated claims were made against then-Barcelona Mayor Xavier Trias.
The latest findings show that illegal efforts to discredit Catalonia’s leaders continued until at least 2016. In 2017, Rajoy’s government briefly introduced direct rule in Catalonia following the latter’s attempt to secede.
Reports of an alleged smear attempt against independence leaders, known as Operation Catalonia, have been circulating for years, apparently as part of a broader deep state apparatus. However, the case never went to court.
This is the first time that such a claim has been substantiated so thoroughly. La Vanguardia and ElDiario.es He said he would announce further revelations in the coming days.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of the Socialist Party told the press that it was “one of the most regrettable and shameful events in the history of our democracy.”
“There are few such examples or similar examples in other democracies where key national resources are secured, such as the use of security forces to pursue political adversaries,” he said, calling the incident ” He called for an investigation into the final outcome.
Rajoy’s PP government was ousted from power in a no-confidence motion in 2018 over a series of corruption scandals.
Fernández Diaz is scheduled to stand trial in a separate case. In the case, he is accused of spying on former party treasurer Luis Bárcenas, who leaked documents to the media allegedly showing the existence of illegal slush funds used by the party. party. The former minister denied any wrongdoing. But recent revelations have put his former boss, Mr Rajoy, under intense scrutiny.
Fernando López Milas, party leader in the southern region of Murcia, appeared to defend the former prime minister. “If there was anyone who used the whole government, all the powers of the state, all the powers given to it by the constitution, to stop a coup, a coup in Catalonia, it was Mr. Rajoy,” he said.
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