Author of leaked video of jailed officials identified

Andreu Van den Eynde, the attorney for the deposed and imprisoned vice president Oriol Junqueras and home affairs minister Raül Romeva, confirmed on Saturday, June 9 that the author of the leaked video has been identified and that they will press charges against them. 

"We know who it is. We're pressing charges immediately," revealed Van den Eynde on his Twitter account. Information suggests it might have been an inmate in the cellblock where Junqueras, Romeva, and Forn are being held, and the video recording would have been made with a camera-watch. 

A "violation of privacy"

Penitentiary Institutions already opened an investigation to find out the origin of the footage taken inside the prison, which was then released by the 'Ara' newspaper, compiled in a video of slightly less than two minutes in length. 

Van den Eynde himself also contacted the director of the penitentiary center shortly after the release of the material, requesting an investigation be opened with the objective of "protecting" his clients and for this to "not happen again." In a radio interview, the attorney also stated that he believes somebody made a profit off of the footage. 

"If I had to guess," speculated the lawyer, "I think somebody saw an opportunity for profit." Van den Eynde also noted that for the families of those featured in the video, there is "resignation" as they "experience this violation of privacy as if it were their own."

The first footage 

In the video, vice president Oriol Junqueras, Foreign Affairs Minister Raül Romeva, and Home Affairs Minister Joaquim Forn, all of them sacked by the Spanish government last October, are seen throughout the footage in different parts of the prison.

Junqueras is seen teaching Philosophy to some inmates, while Romeva listens carefully, and Forn is seen writing his memoirs in the library. The footage, probably recorded with a hidden camera, is clearly amateur and is the first of the jailed Catalan leaders to have been leaked to the press.

The video shows their cells, with Junqueras and Forn, who have been behind bars for more than seven months now, seen side by side. The footage also shows the ministers exercising during their courtyard time.