Spycops exposed
An attempt to sanction a Catalan newspaper that exposed police infiltration of social and political movements has been met with fierce opposition.
At the end of July, the Spanish state data protection agency issued proceedings against Catalan newspaper La Directa, claiming its publication of information on four undercover police officers violated privacy laws.
The officers infiltrated political and social movements in Valencia and Catalonia as “intelligence agents.” This is a term created by the police and refers to a role that is not governed by a specific legal framework and does not require judicial authorisation.
The exposure of these four “agents” has led to parliamentary questions and calls for legal reforms, a committee of inquiry in the Catalan parliament, and international media coverage.
A statement in support of La Directa calls for the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD, Spanish Data Protection Agency) to drop the case and for the Spanish government to introduce legislation to protect public interest journalism.
The petition has so far been signed by hundreds of organisations and individuals, including Statewatch.
Data protection complaints
La Directa published photographs of the officers in which their faces were partially obscured. It also published their cover names, along with information such as their initials and surnames, places of birth, and the dates on which they graduated from the police academy.
The sanction proceedings issued by the AEPD say that these disclosures were disproportionate and unjustified. The officers’ complaints to the AEPD were initially declared inadmissible, a decision later overturned by the agency’s president.
The agency is now demanding that La Directa remove the information from its stories and pay a fine of up to €7,000 – a significant amount for an outlet that has an annual budget of less than €200,000.
Sònia Olivella Saludes of Irídia, a human rights organisation supporting La Directa, commented:
“Spain infiltrated police officers into social movements, resulting in serious human rights violations. Not only has it denied the facts and obstructed victims’ access to justice, but now the outlet that exposed it is being criminalised.”
Silencing and censorship
A press release published by La Directa and Irídia last week says the actions of the AEPD are “designed to silence and censor” and compares them to a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP).
“SLAPPs exploit the law in order to covertly, yet aggressively, intimidate public watchdogs into self-censorship,” says a coalition of British NGOs.
The statement published by La Directa says that the newspaper’s investigations are “a legitimate exercise of the right to communicate and to receive information, recognised by article 20 of the Spanish constitution.”
The statement goes on to say that the investigations represent “the essential democratic function” of the media in monitoring public authorities, particularly with regard to “secret policing activities that affect fundamental rights.”
The statement remains open for further signatures, and La Directa has launched a fundraising campaign to support its case.
Image sourced from La Directa
