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from the friend's-phone-was-not-a-lifeline dept.
Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont was tracked by Spain through fitting his group's car with a surveillance device as well as following the mobile phones of his companions. He was eventually captured in Germany on his way to Belgium from Finland.
Spanish intelligence agents had been tracking the movements of the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont using the geolocation service on his friend's mobile phone before he was detained in Germany at the weekend, according to reports.
Puigdemont was detained under a European arrest warrant in the northern German province of Schleswig-Holstein on Sunday morning as he journeyed by car from Helsinki to Brussels, where he has been living in self-imposed exile since Catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence last October.
From The Guardian: Spanish spies 'tracked Carles Puigdemont via friend's phone'
An international warrant for Puigdemont's arrest had been rescinded back in December but was revived for this occasion. Already back in September, the Internet Society issued a statement about the Spanish government's great efforts to outright censor online activities promoting or discussing the bid for Catalonian independence.
See also earlier SN stories:
Spain Moves Forward With Plan to Suspend Catalonia's Autonomy
Police and Voters Clash During Catalan Independence Referendum
Spain Trying to Stop Catalonia Independence Referendum
(Score: 3, Insightful) by driverless on Wednesday March 28 2018, @10:38AM (4 children)
That was my feeling as well, parallel construction.
The entire story is kind of a farce in any case. Spain issued an international arrest warrant, the sort of thing that's usually reserved for major organisde crime figures, terrorists, and the like, for someone who called for a referendum they found embarrassing. They were then unable to track down a guy who didn't go to overly great lengths to hide his whereabouts, he just left Spain because of the attitude of its government. Then this circus.
I don't know whether it's more reminiscent of Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition or Manuel from Fawlty Towers. It certainly doesn't do much more than make the Spanish government look like a bunch of clowns.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday March 28 2018, @10:42AM
OK, it's definitely Fawlty Towers, not Monty Python. If it was Monty Python, his phone would have exploded because they'd confused him with Mr. E. R. Bradshaw of Napier Court, Black Lion Road.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday March 28 2018, @11:24AM (2 children)
Parallel construction for what? They have tracking devices on the car and were monitoring peoples' cell phones. How can it get juicier than that? Did a black ops assassinate him and now they're bringing the body double, sleeper agent back to safety? Did a Spanish extraterrestrial telepathic gestalt fool us all into believing that Catalan actually exists and they're now setting things up for their masterstroke, Operation Teapot [youtube.com]?
The dude wasn't hiding. I can't imagine that there was anything that they could have gotten illegally, that they couldn't have gotten merely by hiring a detective or two, or maybe a few interns, if they're trying to save money.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by driverless on Wednesday March 28 2018, @12:01PM (1 child)
One of his colleagues turned him in and they're protecting this fact. Invent a magic technology explanation and presto.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday March 28 2018, @03:43PM
Ok, I buy that. I have no idea what they'd be turning him in for, but perhaps we'll find out.