Salvador Illa asks for "sanity" from justice after forcing Jordi Pujol to testify in Madrid

Barcelona"I ask for sanity." 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 the Pau Casals Year in El Vendrell, but that he was "weak" and did not feel "up to it" to go.

The judge of the National High Court has summoned Jordi Pujol for next Monday at 9:30 a.m. This is against the opinion of the forensic doctors who last November made 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 convenient for his medical evaluation." The forensic doctor must be present in the courtroom "for the entire duration" of Pujol's testimony.

Before the trial began, the forensic doctors had already concluded that the former president did not have the "necessary procedural capacity" to defend himself. On the first day of the trial, in fact, Pujol appeared remotely in a statement in which he admitted that he was not "in good shape" to face the trial. One of his sons, Oriol Pujol, had also defended him, stating that his father wanted to go to the trial, but that his body "couldn't take it" to go to Madrid. In fact, his personal doctor, Jaume Padrós, explained in an interview to ARA that Pujol was not "in a condition to defend himself or argue dialectically." The court, however, did not heed the medical reports.

Since he has been president, Salvador Illa has met at least twice with Jordi Pujol and has maintained some contact. The last meeting 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 he was invested president of the Generalitat, in September 2024 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. A way to restore Pujol's image after years of ostracism following the confession of the inheritance.

The National Court's decision angered several Junts leaders, who made their indignation public. "They can't be more miserable," said the party leader, Carles Puigdemont, in a tweet on X, in which he denounced that the National Court seeks to "humiliate" Pujol and also "everything he represents." The president of the Junts added that if he weren't in Waterloo, he would accompany the former president to Madrid "with great pleasure." In fact, the Junts have been considering whether to organize a delegation to accompany him to the National Court, although they subordinate any action to the family's wishes —reports Núria Orriols Guiu.