Jordi Pujol is currently wondering whether he will finally sit on the national bench to stand trial on corruption charges. The former Catalan president appeared briefly, via video from his home, before the judges: “I am at your disposal to answer as best I can, but I am not in shape,” as those present explained to El Pais, during the short questioning that served the judges to assess their state of health. A court-commissioned forensic report concluded that he was “in no physical or cognitive condition” to defend himself and face the operation.
Magistrates asked Pujol, as he appeared before a closed door, whether he would be “capable” of identifying a document if presented during the operation. “I don’t know, but I intend to,” Pujol replied in a video conference. Pujol was wearing a uniform, a white shirt and a dark coat, and was accompanied during the proceedings by one of his lawyers, Albert Carrillo.
The judges also ordered the presence of the forensic experts who prepared the report, Angel Cucurella and Javier Perez. Through videoconference, both were upheld in the conclusions of their report, according to which Pujol is not in a position to face the court. Forensic experts, who examined his medical history and interviewed the former Catalan president at his home in Barcelona for more than an hour, answered questions from the judges and parties. “the president Pujol habla Mucho, pero dice little,” one person said of his ability to understand the criminal process and answer questions.
After hearing from forensic experts and Pujol, the justices took a 15-minute break to decide whether the former president should be excluded from court, which is the most likely scenario.
For his 95 years, the former director of Convergencia was one step away from potentially being convicted by judges of crimes related to illegal associations and capital laundering, because the anti-corruption inspectorate demanded that he face new years in prison.
In any case, the court will pursue the case with respect to the rest of the defendants, who found seven children of the defendant. exresidentwho headed the state from 1980 to 2003. The Public Ministry confirmed that Pujol and his wife, Marta Verosola (died in 2024), “managed” a series of “concealing and disclosing operations” of the illicit gains they obtained through payments from businessmen. However, according to the indictment, his followers (Jordi and Josep) “managed” part of these benefits, and the rest (Pere, Oliger, Oriol, Mireia and Marta) “benefited directly and consciously,” and “supported their concealment.” Therefore, the Public Ministry requests that he be imprisoned for 29 years. children.
The spectacle of the health condition of Jordi Pujol, Sr., was celebrated at the closed door and began with an hour-long delay due to technical problems with the video connection. All parts were moved at 10.00. Young children exresident He arrived very early at the headquarters of the National Audience in San Fernando de Henares, located in an artificial polygon. Josep Pujol was the first to arrive at the judicial building. Then he finds the rest of his followers: Oliger, Marta, and Peri enter together, while Jordi, the firstborn, and Oriol, the only one who has followed the priest’s political career, leave him separately.