The lawyer Gonzalo Boye has denounced that the espionage to which he was subjected by the Spanish state while defending the parliamentary immunity of MEPs Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí "affected the integrity and secrecy" of the procedure, both in the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In testimony this Thursday before the EU chamber's committee on Pegasus spyware, he defended that the espionage suffered by the pro-independence leaders amounts to "an attack on the Catalan national minority". The proceedings of the house's Legal Affairs Committee in the immunity case were not public, but Boye remarked that being spied on affected the "integrity and secrecy" of the case. "There were people who knew the same thing as you and I know. It is not the democratic way to deal with a process that should not have been a judicial one but a political confrontation", he asserted in response to questions from MEPs.
Boye reiterated that the only reason he was spied on was his "list of clients", which includes the MEP and Catalan president in exile, Carles Puigdemont. In this regard, he regretted that the fact of being targeted by this espionage not only put his private and personal life in danger, but also meant that others were subjected to espionage and eavesdropping, including journalists and lawyers, with whom, he said, "I had conversations that had nothing to do with the Catalan case or with Spain". However, he affirmed that he had no doubt "that the Spanish state is behind the espionage".
Systemic problems in Spain's judicial system
Carles Puigdemont's lawyer reported that he has been subjected to two espionage actions, one authorized by the Spanish Supreme Court and the secret services, and the other an attack using Pegasus, whose origin is not officially known. With regard to this infection he affirmed: "I have no doubt that it was authorized by the Spanish government because they are the only ones who have admitted it". In addition, he pointed out that the fact that the same judge who authorized the spying decided on the appeals made by the Junts MEPs demonstrates "a systemic problem in the judicial system, which has not been fully resolved since the end of the [Franco] dictatorship". During his declaration, he noted the distinction between the Spanish government and the Spanish state: "As a lawyer, I defend the presumption of innocence of Pedro Sánchez's government." "In Spain there is a lack of commitment in some areas of the Spanish government and the state agencies," he pointed out.
Boye urged the European Parliament to carry the matter through to the end to find out the truth of the espionage and reach a solution within the EU framework. The lawyer denounced that in the period when he was spied on he was also defending other cases before German courts and the ECJ, and thus, "if the professional secrecy of lawyers is not respected, a fair trial cannot be guaranteed. If we cannot guarantee the integrity of judicial processes, nor can we guarantee the integrity of the rule of law," he replied. Finally, the lawyer criticized not having received "any response" on the espionage against him and denounced that he had been asked to hand over his phone to the police to prove that he was "a victim of criminal activity".