Court admits civil case against undercover police officer who seduced Catalan activist
A court in Girona is processing a civil case brought by an activist against a police officer who feigned a romantic relationship to spy on him. He is claiming €152,220 for moral damages and violation of privacy.
Police infiltration case advances through civil channels after closure of criminal investigation
The Court of First Instance number 3 in Girona has admitted for processing the civil complaint filed by Òscar Campos, an activist and former member of Òmnium Cultural, against Maria I.T., a National Police officer who maintained a romantic relationship with him for two years in order to infiltrate the Catalan independence movement. According to elsaltodiario.com, Campos is seeking compensation of €152,220.54 for moral damages and psychological harm resulting from the unauthorised infiltration.
The officer, revealed to be the fourth spy from the 2019 recruitment class, constructed a false identity and lived together with Campos between 2020 and 2022. During this period, Campos met the police officer's mother, who also played an active role in the life of the surveillance target, sharing intimate moments and maintaining close telephone contact with his circle. The case gained media attention when the officer herself acknowledged the espionage in the documentary Infiltrats, an admission that is relatively rare in this type of operation.
The complaint argues that the infiltration violated Article 18 of the Spanish Constitution and Article 8 of the European Charter of Human Rights relating to the fundamental right to privacy. Campos maintains that he was "objectified" as a tool for obtaining information, access that would never have been possible had he known the officer's true identity. The operation allowed the police to gain access to details about Òmnium Cultural, social and political movements, and she was even present at least two meetings between Campos and his lawyers.
Since 2023, according to the complaint, Campos has suffered from "profound psychological and emotional distress resulting from sustained deception over time", which has affected his personal trust, emotional stability and capacity for relationships. The court document notes that the prolonged deception lasting more than two years caused "an intense rupture of his affective frameworks and basic trust" and directly undermined his dignity.
The complaint grounds the right to privacy not as a "simple space of individual reserve", but as "an indispensable condition for the person to develop their personality freely, preserve their moral autonomy and maintain control over the most personal dimensions of their life". Without this space protected from external intrusion, the complaint indicates that the person is left exposed to objectification and loss of autonomy, incompatible with respect for their dignity.
Spanish law regulates the figure of the undercover agent for investigating organised crime, requiring prior authorisation and judicial oversight. However, in Campos's case there was no procedure whatsoever authorising the officer to act with a false identity and infiltrate his personal, political and associative life. The Ministry of the Interior has argued that these police officers are "intelligence agents", a figure not regulated by law, thereby seeking to avoid the safeguards required by such an invasive police action.
The civil route opens as complementary to the criminal route following closure of the criminal investigation without responsibilities being determined. The Constitutional Court has a pending decision on a constitutional appeal filed against the Spanish courts' decision not to investigate the undercover officer's conduct. In parallel, the Public Prosecutor's Office dismissed the criminal case arguing that the sentimental relationship was "consented to during its duration", although Campos considers it vitiated by the fundamental deception regarding the officer's identity.
Xavier Antich, president of Òmnium Cultural, has justified the civil complaint as necessary in the face of judicial inaction. "After the criminal route closed without any investigation being carried out, we have to use all available avenues to defend the violated fundamental rights," he stated. Antich criticised both the infiltrations and the Spanish judiciary's lack of willingness to clarify responsibilities, describing them as "totally improper and illegal" and "practices as degrading and inhumane".
Source: Google News ES — Crime (es)