SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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An international warrant for Puigdemont's arrest had been rescinded back in December but was revived for this occasion.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: 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.