The Pujol family at the National Court: everything that has happened behind the scenes
MadridBy 7:30 in the morning, journalists were already waiting at the entrance to the National Court building in San Fernando de Henares. The location, in the middle of an industrial park, is hardly inviting: asphalt, trucks, warehouses, and surrounded by National Police officers. It's also that dry cold of the central plateau which requires wearing gloves, a hat, and a fleece. All the cameramen are waiting for one image: the Pujol family entering the National Court. The Pujols could hardly have imagined, when the father left the presidency of the Generalitat 22 years ago, that they would all end up in the dock in Madrid. The untouchables not only ceased to be so, but became the State's scapegoat during the Process. A Process that no longer fills newspaper front pages, but which was very much present again today in the session in San Fernando de Henares.
A few minutes after nine, Josep Pujol arrives alone. It is then clear that there will be no photo of the family together entering the courthouse. There will be an unprecedented image, yes, but in collage format. They don't want to appear as a "clan," as the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's accusation suggests, but rather as independent individuals, with their own trajectories, who share a surname, but not therefore a criminal classification. The most explicit in this regard will be Oriol Pujol's lawyer, who will declare: "If their names were González Amador [referring to Isabel Díaz Ayuso's boyfriend], they would be treated differently, but since their name is Pujol, they're sitting here."
The first anecdote of the day features Júnior, the eldest son of the family, the epicenter of the case and for whom the prosecution is requesting a longer prison sentence. He crosses the road in front of the courthouse, and a national police officer warns him to use the pedestrian crossing. He changes direction and enters. Oriol Pujol, Oleguer, Mireia, Marta, Pere... and the businessmen gradually appear. Up to a dozen businessmen and their lawyers are also summoned to San Fernando de Henares, accused of benefiting from public tenders thanks to the Pujol family's influence in the Catalan administration. "If most of the competitions in the case are from the tripartite coalition," a family member will later complain.
They are all in the lobby of the National Court. The atmosphere, however, is relaxed, and Catalan is spoken more than any other language. All the defendants and most of the lawyers are from Barcelona. "What are we doing here?" they ask each other, a topic that will be part of the preliminary arguments in the courtroom: Cristóbal Martell vehemently defends the lack of jurisdiction he believes the Court is claiming to have in order to try this case.
The father's intervention
The trial begins late and badly: after more than twelve years of investigation, on the day of the trial the connection fails to work for Jordi Pujol i Soley, who at 95 years old has just been discharged from the hospital after suffering from pneumonia, to appear from home.Technical issues"," says Josep Pujol, who takes the opportunity to step outside for some fresh air. Shortly after, lawyer Josep Oriol Rusca leaves the courtroom, unable to find Mercè Gironès: the Junior's ex-wife has slipped away for a smoke. Her lawyer will later proclaim in court that his client shouldn't be there: "To be a partner or an ex?"
In the dock, the family also avoids a group photo: Jordi at one end, Oriol and Oleguer at the other, and the rest of the siblings mingling among the businessmen. Gavel.
The court's decision to also try Jordi Pujol, who is watching from home, leaves defendants and lawyers stunned. The argument to exclude him due to his health condition will fall apart under its own weight.
