The National Court excludes Jordi Pujol from the case due to impossibility of defense
The former president, who has not been seen publicly at any time, has expressed his willingness to testify
San Fernando de HenaresI don't know if upon leaving the National Court, the former president Jordi Pujol has had his life flash before his eyes, as if it were a movie. This Monday, April 27, after fourteen years of investigation, his judicial journey has come to an end. The proceedings that began in 2012 concerning his eldest son —the epicenter of the case— and which were aggravated by his confession of his grandfather Florenci's inheritance, have ended in his case because he is no longer in a condition to be judged. This has been decided by the National Court, which has communicated his exclusion from the proceedings due to cognitive decline, as doctors have repeatedly stated, it has confirmed the "impossibility" for Jordi Pujol to continue as a defendant with "full knowledge and capabilities." In other words, the man who was president of the Generalitat for 23 years will not be tried, nor will there be a sentence in his case.
The decision has been accompanied by controversy. The tribunal presided over by Ricardo de Prada made the determination on the day he was called to testify as a defendant, despite the fact that at the beginning of the proceedings, the forensic experts of the National Court had already concluded that he was not in physical and psychological condition. The magistrates said they wanted to see the former president face to face and, after a new medical report, concluded that they could not judge him. However, according to family sources, the former president has reiterated, as he always has, that he wanted to testify and defend his innocence.
Be that as it may, Pujol had to travel in person to Madrid, at the age of 95, which has been widely criticized in Catalonia. Apart from Junts —"They are miserable," said former president Carles Puigdemont—, the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and the Minister of Justice himself, Félix Bolaños, had also censured his obligation to travel. "I celebrate that justice has acted with common sense and humanity," reacted the head of the Catalan executive.
No image of the former president
Former President Pujol arrived at the headquarters of the National Court in San Fernando de Henares a few minutes after 9 in the morning. He did so in a car with tinted windows and through the parking lot. He was also not seen in the common areas of the court.
How was it proceeded? The day began with a closed-door forensic examination, where the doctor agreed that the former president was not capable of testifying and defending himself. Subsequently, according to sources close to Pujol, they made him appear before the court assisted by his lawyers, where the president of the court, Ricardo de Prada, was able to see the former president "first-hand" along with the other magistrates and assess if he could take his statement. All of this lasted about two hours, and then they let him leave as discreetly as possible: although he entered through the main parking lot, he left without any camera being able to capture him through the loading and unloading parking lot, according to sources familiar with the Court.
