Salvador Illa asks for "common sense" from the justice system after forcing Jordi Pujol to testify in Madrid

Barcelona"I ask for common sense." After the National High Court's decision to summon Jordi Pujol to testify in person, Salvador Illa has defended the former president and called on the justice system to reconsider the health conditions in which he finds himself. The head of the Catalan executive recounted a call he received last week from Pujol in which he explained that he was very "excited" to attend the inauguration of Pau Casals Year in El Vendrell but that he was "weak" and did not feel "up to it" to go.

The National High Court judge has summoned Jordi Pujol for next Monday at 9:30 a.m. He does so against the opinion of the forensic experts who last November made it public that the former president was not "in physical or cognitive condition" to be tried. Now the National High Court is again offering him the possibility to provide "the documents he deems appropriate for his medical evaluation." The forensic doctor must be present in the room "for the entire duration" of Pujol's testimony.

Since he has been president, Salvador Illa has met several times with Jordi Pujol. The last one that has come to light was in December, when the trial against his family had already begun. The meeting took place at the Palau de Pedralbes because Salvador Illa wanted to inquire about Pujol's health, after he had been admitted for pneumonia. However, a few weeks after being invested president of the Generalitat, Illa also met with Pujol as part of the series of meetings that the socialist leader held with the former presidents of the Generalitat. "Pujol is one of the most relevant figures in the political history of Catalonia," Illa stated at the time.