They report 'espionage' against the Civil Guard who uncovered the 'Hegeno' database.

The Hegeno case, which investigates an unofficial database used by the Las Palmas Civil Guard Command, operating behind the Ministry of the Interior's back without authorization, reveals new insights following complaints filed with the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD).

This is a resolution from the General Directorate of the Civil Guard (DGGC), which uncovers that "the whistleblower of this clandestine database, Cosme Brito, was subject to a 'parallel investigation' by the Information Services and Judicial Police of the Benemérita." This is stated by sources close to the affected agent's defense to El Cierre Digital.

These 'surveillances' have occurred without judicial authorization, and without "an official order issued by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande Marlaska, for this operation." Therefore, Brito has never been summoned or required under these actions, these sources clarify.

The mentioned ruling from the General Directorate records these 'parallel' surveillances against Brito by Information and Judicial Police, which originated after reporting irregularities that occurred in the Gran Canaria command, such as the Hegeno case.

Meanwhile, "the DGGC has been forced, following a resolution from the AEDP, to provide Brito with all the investigations that have been conducted on him, consulting the official SIGO database of the Benemérita." It was then, as a result of this same report that, initially, the DGGC itself had refused to deliver to Brito, "when this key information about the 'unjustified' inquiries on this agent was exposed."

They also suspect that this civil guard, since filing various complaints against his superiors, has allegedly "been subject to phone tapping, without judicial warrant to date, and without having committed any criminal offense."

Similarly, these sources point out that "Brito has suffered police surveillances by elite units of the Civil Guard, among which the Information Service stands out, which is the body responsible for obtaining information on criminal organizations, terrorism, and organized crime."

Therefore, "these surveillances against the whistleblower guard occur, -they argue-, in an 'arbitrary' and 'malicious' manner, allegedly by order of some command of the Benemérita."

They add another key point: "State resources could be being used 'illegally' to continue exercising reprisals against Brito, for having reported the Hegeno case, and other matters currently under judicial proceedings against some Civil Guard commanders."

However, they indicate, "the top officials of the Civil Guard when some of these 'irregular' accesses to the SIGO database to 'spy' on Brito occurred, -by unauthorized personnel-, were Division Generals, Valentín Díaz Blanco in the Information Headquarters, and Ángel Alonso Miranda at the head of Judicial Police. They are the ones who may face the possibility of opening investigative proceedings for these extra-judicial surveillances."

"THE DGGC DOES NOT INVESTIGATE THE ILLEGAL SURVEILLANCE"

It should be noted that, in the aforementioned information provided mandatorily by the General Directorate of the Civil Guard to guard Cosme Brito, "there are records of inquiries into his personal data by members of the Benemérita unrelated to their duties and tasks," reveal these sources from the agent's defense.

In other words, "the intrusion into the SIGO database without any justified purpose comes to violate this guard's essential rights, being sufficient reason for the DGGC itself to have already initiated a disciplinary file against the agents discovered in these irregularities in light of this key report."

However, so far, "no hearing has been granted to guard Brito so he can defend himself."

GUARD BRITO REPORTS 'REPRISALS'

As a result of the complaint filed with the AEPD by civil guard Cosme Brito against the clandestine Hegeno database, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande Marlaska, dismissed this agent for loss of trust in the position he then held at the Operational Center of the Las Palmas Civil Guard Command, as revealed by El Cierre Digital.

This dismissal, proposed by the current Chief General of the Canary Islands Zone, Juan Hernández Mosquera, was appealed, and at this moment, Brito is awaiting the decision of the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid regarding the minister's decision.

Additionally, according to his defense, guard Brito "was subjected to six disciplinary files, two of which were for very serious offenses, and four for serious offenses under the Civil Guard's disciplinary regime, which carried penalties that could lead to expulsion from the Corps."

Well, all these disciplinary files have been archived in the investigation phase without any responsibility for agent Brito.

"It is not normal, nor is there any precedent in any member of the Civil Guard that, in such a short period of just 15 days, an agent is subjected to a dismissal from the position and six disciplinary files. Even less so, after reporting alleged irregularities and supposedly criminal behaviors in the Las Palmas Command," these sources state in relation to the 'reprisals suffered by Brito.'

Moreover, "despite having requested measures up to twenty times by Brito, neither the Ministry of the Interior nor the DGGC has provided any protection to the agent against the reprisals after reporting the Hegeno case," they express.