ERC demands explanations over police attempt to infiltrate its youth wing
Young man police attempted to recruit says he tries to leave the house as little as possible out of "precaution"
BarcelonaThe police tried to recruit Enric Pérez, 24, as an informer to infiltrate Jovent Republicà, Republican Left of Catalonia's (ERC) youth wing, but he decided to report it to ARA and La Directa to denounce espionage on the independence movement. This Tuesday, after his case was made public yesterday, ERC appeared in the Catalan Parliament alongside Pérez and the national spokesperson of Jovent Republicà, Kenya Domènech, to denounce the "violation of political freedom" and request the appearance of the Spanish government's delegate in Catalonia, Maria Eugènia Gay, to give explanations about what has happened. They have also assured that they are studying legal actions –but they have not yet given any details– and that this afternoon ERC MP in Madrid Marta Rosique will announce the actions they are preparing in the Spanish Parliament.
At a press conference, Pérez has stated that it is "intolerable" to try to spy on pro-independence organisations by capturing informants who, he said, have the sole objective of "destabilising" the movement. In this sense, he has called on young people who may find themselves in the same situation as him to denounce these attempts and to put "collective interests" ahead of "individual" interests. In his case, for example, the people who contacted him told him that they would help him with his "aspirations" –Pérez had tried to become a member of the Catalan police force–. In any case, he has admitted that since he made his case public he has taken "precautions", such as leaving the house "as little as possible", although he has assured that today he has not had any bad experience.
On the other hand, the CUP believes that Pérez's is not an isolated case, but the State's modus operandi with protest movements. He recalled that recently La Directaalso revealed the infiltration of a Spanish police officer in the collective for the defence of housing and in the pro-independence left. "This is the way the State and its dirty war work," said CUP spokeswoman Laia Estrada. In turn, En Comú spokesperson David Cid rejected this practice. "Any political movement has to be able to exercise its activity with total freedom", he affirmed, in addition to remarking that his group criticises it when the State does it but also if there were cases in the Catalan police.