Forensic experts from the Institute of Forensic Medicine of Catalonia who examined Jordi Pujol They decided that he was “not in physical condition” or psychological condition to attend trial sessions in the National Court, El Periodico newspaper reported. … Legal sources confirmed to ABC. This Monday, the court that will try him starting on November 24 agreed that the former president of the state should appear via videoconference, before the start of the hearing, together with the doctors who examined him, to decide whether he should face the operation or not, and if so, how. Whether remotely, or from the court’s headquarters in Madrid.
At the request of his defence, carried out by criminal lawyer Cristóbal Martell, forensic experts last week examined Pujol, 95, who had been admitted to Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia clinic since Saturday with pneumonia. One of his sons, Oriol, reported this morning that the health condition of the “former president” is stable, and that expectations indicate that he will be released from the hospital within 4 or 5 days.
It was a month ago when his lawyer submitted two reports to the court in which he requested an assessment of Pujol’s ability to stand trial and defend himself, due to his health condition, and also so that he could, in the event that forensic experts decide that they have the aforementioned capacity, follow the sessions electronically from the Catalan capital. It should be noted that the person who headed the Catalan government for more than two decades is now 95 years old, and in September 2022 he suffered a stroke from which he recovered well. His advanced age and state of health may affect the way he faces the “controversial role of his defense”, which is why now it will be the court that will have to make a decision based on medical opinions.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office requests nine years’ imprisonment for Jordi Pujol on charges of illicit association and money laundering. In his defense memorandum, the clan patriarch said that the money hidden in Andorra for 30 years – until the confession – was not linked to his duties as president of the state (1980-2003), but came from his father Florentine, and that he kept it abroad because of the “concern” and “deep anxiety” generated by his political career, thus being able to “guarantee and guarantee the economic stability of his daughter-in-law and his family.” The grandchildren.” The argument did not convince the court, which confirmed the claim not only against the patriarch, but also against his wife and seven children. Although in 2021, Judge Santiago Pedraz had already, for health reasons, archived the case against Marta Verosola, who died in 2024.
It was July 2014, late on a Friday afternoon, when the “former president” admitted in a brief statement that, for 30 years, he had kept a fortune hidden in tax havens that he had placed in his father’s legacy. More than a decade later, at the age of 95, Pujol and his seven children are still waiting to sit in the dock of the National Court, accused of belonging to a criminal organization, money laundering, crimes against the public treasury and forging documents.
The firstborn of the clan is the one who faces the longest prison sentence. Anti-Corruption calls for the imprisonment of Jordi Pujol Versola, 29 years. According to investigations, he was responsible for managing the Andorran accounts and giving instructions to bank managers on what to do with each of the family’s accounts.
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