The deputy director of 'El Mundo' does not clarify the role of the patriotic police in the Pujol case

MadridOne of the most anticipated witnesses of the week in the Pujol Ferrusola family trial was Esteban Urreiztieta, deputy director ofThe WorldThe newspaper that in July 2014 published the screenshot of the accounts held in Andorra by Marta Ferrusola—the wife of the former president of the Generalitat—and five of her children. He explained that he did not participate in the writing of the article, which was signed by the journalist Fernando Lázaro, who died in June of last year. After prosecutor Fernando Bermejo completely ignored the famous "screenshot"The question that was posed to him was brought up by the state attorney, José Ignacio Ocio. He asked him directly if José Manuel Villarejo and the 'patriotic police'—without calling them that—were the source and origin of that news. And Urreiztieta had to reply that he did not create the sources, he did not create the information. 'I don't know them, and even if I did, I couldn't provide any details,' he stated. This is because journalists are protected by professional secrecy and have the right not to reveal their sources when they testify as witnesses in a legal proceeding. In fact, a few months ago, this was one of the key issues in the trial that ended with the trial that ended with the trial that ended with the State. In that case, José Ignacio Ocio was the defense attorney. The central unit for economic and fiscal crime—did not ask them for any kind of explanation about its content." first days of the trialThe defense lawyers for the children of the former president of the Generalitat reported the newsThe World Under scrutiny. Francesc Sánchez, Oriol Pujol's lawyer, accused "pseudo-police" and "part of the state apparatus" of wanting to "influence" the independence process. And Jaime Campaner, Josep Pujol's lawyer, dubbed the cover a "bank striptease" and presented it as the "original sin" of the case, because it contained evidence obtained in an "unconstitutional and criminal" manner. Later, the court accepted that the leadership of Operation Catalonia appear as a witness.

The cover ofThe World It was key to the advancement of the investigation against the former president. The origin of the case, which Josep Pujol, in his defense brief, considers "unlawful," was the complaint filed by Vicky Álvarez—the eldest son's former partner—in 2012 regarding alleged money the family was taking to Andorra. However, the case remained frozen until its publication in the newspaper on July 7, 2014, of the family's bank accounts. According to the defense brief, this information surfaced after the "patriotic police" deployed a "coercive harassment operation" against the owners of Banca Privada de Andorra to "break their will" and obtain information about the Pujols. The family's lawyers consider this activity "exorbitant and illegal," and it led to the reactivation of the case. The leadership of Operation Catalonia, who will have to testify as witnesses, could provide more details about the origin of the information. The court accepted this after complaints from the defense. However, the presiding judge, José Ricardo de Prada, warned that he would be "very strict" in validating the questions. If there are no changes, José Manuel Villarejo (retired National Police commissioner), Eugenio Pino (former Deputy Director of the Police), Marcelino Martín-Blas (former head of the Internal Affairs unit), and Celestino Barroso (former Interior Ministry attaché and retired National Police chief) will have to testify in the coming weeks.