Doctors conclude that Jordi Pujol is not fit to stand trial

BarcelonaThe forensic doctors who examined Pujol at the request of the Court, according to reports The NewspaperThey believe that the former president "is neither physically nor cognitively fit to appear in court, nor does he possess the necessary legal capacity to adequately defend himself." The report, to which the EFE news agency has had access, was commissioned by the National Court after Jordi Pujol's defense team asked the court to assess whether he was competent to stand trial. In parallel with the clarity of the report prepared by Doctors Ángel Cuquerella Fuentes and Xavier Pérez Cuit, The National Court, which will try him starting next week, has agreed on Monday that Pujol will appear via videoconference before the court to determine whether his health allows him to stand trial. The court, in conjunction with the forensic doctors who issued the report on his health and the parties involved in the proceedings, will examine his condition. The decision comes after Pujol's hospitalization. this weekend due to pneumonia

Precisely, as his son Oriol Pujol explained to the media, he is "progressing favorably" and could leave the Sagrada Familia Clinic in Barcelona on Thursday. The former president has improved, although he continues to suffer from "respiratory insufficiency resulting from a somewhat acute lung infection." The pneumonia, therefore, although it has left him in a "low" state of mind, has not prevented the 95-year-old former leader from maintaining his willingness to testify in the trial for his family's alleged illicit organization. However, he would like to do so remotely and without having to travel to Madrid for the proceedings, which are scheduled to include some fifty sessions. The National Court has accepted this request, taking the first step next week.

Pujol's health

On the other hand, Oriol Pujol explained that "his fever has practically disappeared," a sign of improvement, and insisted that he is currently "stable." The Convergència founder's illness comes just a week before the trial against him and his family, after several months of declining health. At the end of October, the former president submitted three medical reports to the court for an assessment of his health. It allowed him to attend and testify at the trialLast week, the forensic doctor examined him. The court has already ruled that his physical presence at the trial in Madrid is unnecessary and that he can follow and participate remotely from the City of Justice in Barcelona. Pujol's defense argued that his health condition does not permit him to travel to the Spanish capital. However, they have not yet requested a postponement of the trial against the former president and his family given this health circumstance. This court appearance, which begins next Monday, has marked a turning point for the former president after a decade of investigations and will conclude in May. In the trial, the prosecution is seeking a nine-year prison sentence for Pujol, and for his children, sentences ranging from eight to twenty-nine years. The eldest son, Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, faces nearly three decades in prison. The State Attorney's Office, however, is not requesting any prison sentence for the former president and is requesting twenty-five years for his eldest son.