The leadership of the patriotic police turns a blind eye to the Pujol case

MadridSince the court in the Pujol trial accepted that José Manuel Villarejo and other members of the patriotic police would testify as witnesses, there was a lot of expectation –especially in the media– about what they would say. They were to answer about the obtaining of banking information from the family of the former president of the Generalitat, which was leaked to El Mundo, and about the genesis of the criminal case, which started more than ten years ago. However, they have provided few specifics, few certainties, and many shadows of doubt on all the questions the defense attorneys have asked them. With contradictory statements that have been denied by journalistic investigations and revelations in recent years.

Eugenio Pino –former DAO of the Spanish police–, José Manuel Villarejo –retired commissioner of the Spanish police–, and Bonifacio Díez Sevillano –retired chief inspector of the National Police and former Interior attaché in Andorra– did not seem eager to talk and tried to avoid answering the defense attorneys' questions. The first two will be seated in the dock this April for the Kitchen case. Pino directly pointed to Marcelino Martín Blas as responsible for obtaining the banking data of the Pujol family. "Didn't obtaining banking data through a non-judicial channel warrant caution?", asked Cristóbal Martell, the eldest son's lawyer. "There are a series of commissioners; they transmit it, process it, or hand it over to the investigative unit," he explained. Later, Francesc Sánchez, Oriol Pujol's lawyer, asked him if Martín Blas had told him how he obtained the documentation. "That question is not usually asked to the police," he replied.

The interrogation of Villarejo

The most tense interrogation was that of José Manuel Villarejo. He stated that he had "no involvement" in obtaining the banking data of the former president of the Generalitat's family in Andorra and claimed that he did not know who obtained it or who leaked it to El Mundo. At one point during his testimony, Villarejo said he would not answer a question from Martell about the accounts in Andorra, alleging that he was under investigation. But in fact, he had testified as a witness a few months ago. "The Andorra issue is from a different country than ours, and this court has no knowledge of it or knows exactly nothing about it," José Ricardo de Prada replied. "You have an unavoidable duty to tell the truth," he insisted. And Villarejo complained: "I feel coerced by the court".

Finally, Bonifacio Díez Sevillano tried to evade questions by saying that his duties in Andorra were subject to "professional secrecy" and were of a "confidential nature." However, José Ricardo de Prada did not allow this and urged him to answer. He only admitted to having had a "good friendship" with Roser Castelló, who was the secretary of the board of directors of BPA. However, he denied being commissioned to search for information about the Pujol family.

"I've had several girlfriends"

The officials responsible for Operation Catalonia also did not clarify Vicky Álvarez's role in the genesis of the case. And, once again, they resorted to passing the buck. First, Eugenio Pino invited the lawyers to ask Villarejo why Jordi Pujol Ferrusola's ex-lover went to the General Directorate of Information: "That's Villarejo's problem, I've never seen this person," he replied. But the ex-commissioner did not provide any details either.

Francesc Sánchez asked him if he knew her, and Villarejo brushed him off with an answer that angered the president of the court: "I've known many women in my life. I remember having spoken with her once, but I've had problems, I've been divorced several times, I've had several girlfriends." And this inappropriate remark did not please José Ricardo de Prada: "He asked you about a specific person, you don't need to get into these jokesbecause they are not appropriate." Previously, he had denied having conversations with her to "moderate" the testimony that marked the beginning of the Pujol case.

Ramon Espadaler testifies in Catalan

Another notable witness of the day was Ramon Espadaler, the current Minister of Justice. In 2003, he was Minister of Environment and signed the environmental authorization for a landfill in which the eldest son of the former president of the Generalitat also participated. Basically, he said that he never received pressure to expedite the process and simply signed the resolution that had been prepared by the environmental committee. He was the first witness to testify in Catalan, although it was not easy due to the technical difficulties in hearing and understanding him. "I would prefer the translation to be literal and it is not," complained Cristóbal Martell, Jordi Pujol Ferrusola's lawyer. And the interpreter apologized, saying she couldn't hear the answers well: "It's not a linguistic issue, it's that I can't hear it. It's unintelligible, I can't do my job," she replied.