Would the Pujol trial exist without the Process?
BarcelonaIt is legitimate to ask whether the trial of the Pujol family would have taken place without the Catalan independence process. And, after more than twelve years of judicial investigation and knowing what is now known about Operation Catalonia, it is reasonable to answer no. And perhaps the former president's confession in July 2014, admitting that he had hidden money abroad for thirty years, would not have occurred either. Mariano Rajoy's government mistakenly believed that to deactivate the Catalan independence process, it was necessary to deactivate Pujol. Beyond the rumors that have always surrounded the younger Pujol—the former president had been warned about certain behaviors of the eldest son—there was nothing legally relevant about the family until well into 2012, when Convergència was already embracing the independence movement. The party's irregular financing, which was proven with the Palau case ruling, is another matter. Until then, had the State tolerated certain practices of the Pujol family? Or was it that before 2012 he was unable to obtain evidence of irregular commissions? Or is there nothing there, and the money in Andorra is simply the result of a legacy from his grandfather Florenci? This is what must be determined in the trial at the National Court, which begins this Monday in San Fernando de Henares.
The Shadow of the Other Side
The session will begin with a crucial question: whether or not the former president can be tried given his health condition. The lawyers consulted already assume that the court will acquit him due to his cognitive decline. Pujol has always maintained that he wanted to defend himself in court; for him, it was part of restoring his image, despite the possibility of a corruption conviction. However, the investigation has dragged on for too long, and in his case—unlike his sons'—it seems there will be no resolution and, therefore, no judicial truth. Doubt will always remain. For some, this may be a virtue because it could spare him a guilty verdict. For others, quite the opposite, because they believe he could have been acquitted and his name definitively cleared.
A decade after the case broke, there has been a growing vindication of Pujol and his political strategy, considering the failure of the subsequent Statute of Autonomy and the Catalan independence process. Leaders from Junts to the PSC and Esquerra have approached him, as they all enjoy it from time to time. hang, A little. Thus, despite being condemned to live with the shadow of the flip side, having transcended his political space is the true success of Jordi Pujol and Pujolism.