The Bundestag, the German federal parliament, in response to a question from deputy Andrej Hunko (Die Linke), has warned that if the CNI (Spanish security service) spied on president Carles Puigdemont in Germany, that would have been illegal. A legal report from the chamber makes this clear and warns that it could have consequences.
"Action by sovereign authorities without the consent from the German state entails several legal consequences: foreign secret service operations against the Federal Republic are punishable in accordance with § 99 of the Criminal Code. Spying on foreigners in the Federal Republic fulfils this criteria. The unauthorised collection of data can fulfil the criteria of a misdemeanour or felony according to the Federal Data Protection Act," the report says.
At the same time, the German interior ministry responded to another question from the deputy about Spain's reported use of a tracking device (in Catalan) to monitor the president's vehicle, saying they "no knowledge" of Spanish tracking of Carles Puigdemont in Germany.
"The federal government has no knowledge of technical measures by Spanish intelligence services or police authorities in German territory", they say in their written response.
Das @BMI_Bund antwortet, man habe "keine Erkenntnisse" zur spanischen Verfolgung von Carles #Puigdemont in Deutschland:https://t.co/lsb4ASHhpO (PDF)
— Andrej Hunko (@AndrejHunko) 18 d’abril de 2018
Das ist aber in zahlreichen Medien berichtet. Die Bundesregierung muss ermitteln!@boye_g @marie_kapretz @ecasajoana @CDRberlin https://t.co/fmsvamg3bW
Translation: The federal interior ministry answers that they have "no knowledge" of Spanish tracking of Carles Puigdemont in Germany. However, that is reported in a great number of media outlets. The federal government must investigate!
When Puigdemont was arrested in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, media from Madrid claimed that the CNI had followed the president's route from Finland, and that they had a decisive role in his arrest in Germany by the country's police. Part of this reported tracking operation was a device placed in his car.