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| - A former Spanish minister denied knowledge of an internal spying operation targeting an ex-Popular Party leader while testifying Friday in a high-profile political investigation. Allegations that an informant was paid out of state coffers to spy on a former party bigwig has dealt a blow to the conservative opposition party, and could end up tainting a former premier. The illegal surveillance, which was known as "Operation Kitchen" because the alleged informant was code-named "the cook", hit the headlines last month when prosecutors declassified a key document. "So, you say you don't know anything about this matter," ironised the judge after hearing from Jorge Fernández Díaz, interior minister between 2011 and 2016 in Mariano Rajoy's government, his words related by a legal source who spoke on condition of anonymity. During the closed hearing that lasted nearly two hours, Fernandez Dias insisted he was not aware of the operation to spy on Luis Barcenas, former treasurer for the Popular Party (PP), which began in 2013. He also said he never received any instructions from Rajoy or anyone else regarding the matter, the source said. The court is trying to understand what role Fernandez Diaz played in "Operation Kitchen" which sought to recover documentary material held by Barcenas that could have compromised senior PP leaders. The alleged spying was carried out by a driver for Barcenas. But his remarks contradicted allegations by his former deputy at the ministry, Francisco Martínez Vazquez, who testified Thursday that the pair exchanged text messages about the operation. Lawyer Jesus Mandri, who is representing the ex-minister, said his client's mobile phone had been confiscated as part of the investigation but "no such messages were found on it". He "has denied any involvement with this operation" and only found out about it through media reports, Mandri said. Fernandez Diaz is being investigated on suspicion of embezzlement, disclosure of secrets and faces charges of malfeasance -- wrongdoing while holding public office. Current Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who serves in Spain's leftwing coalition government, told La Sexta television the case was "very worrying" given that "the security forces were used for purely partisan purposes". Barcenas was one of the main protagonists in the so-called Gurtel case which involved a vast system of bribes given to former PP officials in exchange for juicy public contracts between 1999-2005. The case ended with a graft conviction for the party in 2018 that triggered the ousting of then-premier Rajoy, who was replaced by Socialist Party leader Pedro Sanchez, the current prime minister. mig/hmw/mg/cdw
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