Spain confirms arrest of own secret service agents
There is a diplomatic rift between Spain and the USA. Two Iberian intelligence officers are alleged to have passed on confidential information to Washington. They are arrested in September. However, the government in Madrid knew nothing about it for a long time. Until now.
Two employees of the Spanish secret service CNI have been arrested for allegedly passing on highly confidential information to the USA on their own initiative. According to a report in the digital newspaper "El Confidencial", the arrests were made back in September. Justice Minister Félix Bolaños confirmed the report to journalists in Brussels on Monday evening.
The minister emphasized that the left-wing government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had only been informed "a few days ago". A judge in Madrid had opened an investigation into the alleged disclosure of secrets. According to "El Confidencial", information of the highest confidentiality level was passed on.
Bolaños did not comment on El Confidencial's claim that the case had triggered a "crisis with Washington". He only said that the government wanted to work with the judiciary so that "these events are clarified as quickly as possible".
Although the detainees were initially accused of unlawful disclosure of secrets, they could also be charged with treason and espionage for a foreign power in the course of the investigation, as reported on Tuesday by "El Confidencial" and the state television station RTVE, among others. In Spain, this is punishable by up to twelve years in prison.
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The diplomatic tension between Spain and the USA escalates further, as the arrests of the Spanish secret service agents for espionage activities in favor of the USA are highlighted. The alleged espionage activities involve the passing of highly confidential information to the USA's secret services.
Source: www.ntv.de
