Sibelis Palace in MadridMADRID, May 10Spain's cabinet has removed Paz Esteban, head of the National Intelligence Center (CNI), amid the Pegasus wiretapping scandal, El País reported. during a press conference by Minister of Defense Margherita Robles.Spain's defense minister criticized for refusing to discuss the wiretapping scandal Paz Esteban was appointed head of the CNI on January 31, 2020 and became the first woman to lead the Spanish intelligence services. who is obliged to act discreetly, so that he is not talked about. «Earlier, the Citizen Lab expert group at the University of Toronto (Canada) reported that the Spanish authorities listened to the mobile devices of more than 60 supporters of the independence of Catalonia and the Basque Country using the Pegasus program. This program, developed by the Israeli company NOS Group, is sold only to states and is used to track individuals suspected of having links with the underworld and terrorist organizations. Pegasus allows not only to intercept mobile communications, but also allows access to information stored on phones and even to their cameras and microphones. The media reported that the CNI of Spain did indeed conduct individual surveillance of individual Catalan politicians who advocated the independence of the region, using Pegasus programs. Later it became known that the secret services were also listening to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Defense Minister Robles and some other Spanish politicians. trial of the prime minister of Spain due to wiretapping
