The prosecutor in the Pujol case catches Vicky Álvarez's bug and denies the influence of Operation Catalonia

San Fernando de HenaresThe patriotic police The issue has resurfaced in the trial of the Pujol Ferrusola family. While on Monday and Tuesday the defense lawyers denounced the "contamination" of Operation Catalonia at the very beginning of the case and the "original sin" of the investigation, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the State Attorney's Office sought to draw a line between the state's dirty tricks and the trial that began Monday at the National Court. "No evidence has been manipulated for ulterior motives, and it has been obtained with full respect for the rights of the accused," asserted prosecutor Fernando Bermejo. He reprimanded the lawyers for stirring up "political rumors" and "unsubstantiated hypotheses" and for attempting to get the court to consider "alleged maneuvers and irregularities unrelated to the facts being judged." "Political issues cannot be introduced into a procedural, legal, and substantive matter such as the investigation and prosecution of crimes," he concluded.

At the end of his argument, he referred to a passage from the Supreme Court's judgment in the Trial trial to argue that it is a "mistake" to base oneself on a "contextual assumption that would explain everything" and to regret that the appeal to the patriotic police "It clouds the analysis" and transforms "legitimate state actions" into "repressive acts intended to subjugate a people." The impact of Operation Catalonia on the Pujol case is an issue that will become clearer in the coming weeks, when witnesses begin to testify, because the court refused to summon some of the ringleaders of the patriotic policea, like José Manuel Villarejo –retired commissioner of the Spanish police– and Eugenio Pino –former deputy director of operations of the Spanish police.

"Nobody forced her"

Fernando Bermejo also justified the complaint filed by Vicky Álvarez—Jordi Pujol Ferrusola's ex-partner—in 2012—despite the prosecutor's claim that it was filed in 2010—as providing "sufficient and concrete evidence" and, therefore, "clearly legitimizing" the start of the investigation. Furthermore, in response to the defense's complaints, he challenged them to prove that she was coerced: "Truly, no one forced her. If they don't, let them prove it here in court." However, according to the defense, she was encouraged to speak after receiving a call from Villarejo, who, posing as a journalist, threatened to publish photos of her if she didn't testify, and was further incentivized by a text message from Jorge Moragas, Mariano Rajoy's chief of staff, telling her to "give it to him." In addition, Vicky Álvarez received payments from classified funds. On Monday, Oriol Pujol's lawyer, Francesc Sánchez, stressed that it was "evident" that his statement was not "subject to his free will" and emphasized that, in this case, Operation Catalonia is not "futile."

The famous front page of 'El Mundo'

In this context, prosecutor Fernando Bermejo has argued that the investigation "had begun" beforeThe WorldThe publication of the famous front page with the screenshot of the Pujol family's accounts in Andorra has been alleged. And it has been argued that, after this, Jordi Pujol published the statement "voluntarily and freely," precisely the same words used by Josep Pujol Ferrusola's lawyer, Jaime Campaner, to deny it. On behalf of the State Attorney's Office, José Ignacio Ocio argued that the journalistic information reached the case "untainted" and defended the dissemination of the banking information of the children of the former president of the Generalitat, which Campaner attributed to "state intervention" and dubbed a "strip," as "the legitimate exercise of the fundamental right to receive truthful information." And he questioned whether it constituted a "disclosure of secrets."