Despite the scarce media coverage in Madrid, this week has been key for the Pujol case. Fourteen years later, all the children have testified before the court presided over by Ricardo de Prada, who, after forcing the former president into an unnecessary trip to Madrid, excluded him from the case due to incapacity. This fact was not front-page news in any of the main newspapers published in the Spanish capital (though it was in Catalonia), despite the time dedicated to Pujol's figure during the Procés. It is clear that a page has been turned and now the battle is for the Aldamas, Koldos, Ábalos, and Kitchen.

President Pujol wanted to testify in the trial that is taking place at the National Court. I am convinced that he wanted to do so for two reasons: because of his character, always a fighter; and because he considers himself innocent of the accusations that have been made against him for many years. He has enough lucidity to know that he wants to defend himself, but according to repeated medical opinions, he does not have enough mental agility to do so with full guarantees. Despite numerous pieces of evidence in this regard, they made him go to Madrid, in an act of hurtful insensitivity and pathetic dehumanization of justice.

The “progressive” judge –or at least proposed by Podem– José Ricardo de Prada summoned President Jordi Pujol to the National Court in Madrid first thing Monday morning. More than making him testify, the intention was to subject him to another forensic examination to exhibit him as a wounded trophy, if not defeated. And this, to then be able to treat him as disabled and remove him from the case and keep open forever the suspicion of hypothetical guilt, something he himself wanted to defend himself against until the end. Perhaps therein lay the risk!

Today the analysis could last as long as a news broadcast. Let's begin: today marks one year since the great blackout. April 28th. It was a day like today, more or less. We were heading into summer. Sunshine and mild temperatures. Lucky for us. And it started when the kids were at school and people were at work. And it ended at night. The responsibility for the blackout has been diluted in a chain of problems that occurred in a cascade, and nothing has happened here.Jordi Pujol has already slept at his home tonight, in Barcelona, where he arrived yesterday evening quite tired, with the frustration of not having been able to declare and of knowing that he has not been able to receive an acquittal of which he was convinced.Don't miss this chronicle by our delegate in Madrid, Núria Orriols, full of details about the two hours the former president spent at the National Court. They asked him which years he was president and he got it right, from 1980 to 2003. But when they asked him if he knew what he was being accused of, he started to ramble.But, above all, don't miss the in-depth reflection by Jordi Nieva-Fenoll, professor of procedural law at the University of Barcelona:

Today the analysis could last as long as a TV news broadcast. Let's start: today marks one year since the big blackout. April 28th. It was a day like today, more or less. We were heading into summer. Sunshine and mild temperatures. Lucky for us. And it started when the kids were at school and people were at work. And it ended at night. The responsibility for the blackout has been diluted in a chain of problems that presented themselves in a cascade, and nothing has happened here.Jordi Pujol has already slept at his home tonight, in Barcelona, where he arrived yesterday evening quite tired, with the frustration of not having been able to declare and knowing that he has not been able to receive an acquittal of which he was convinced.Don't miss this chronicle by our delegate in Madrid, Núria Orriols, full of details about the two hours the former president spent at the National Court. They asked him what years he was president and he got it right, from 1980 to 2003. But when they asked him if he knew what he was accused of, he started to ramble.But, above all, don't miss the in-depth reflection by Jordi Nieva-Fenoll, professor of procedural law at the University of Barcelona:

The last time there was similar expectation in San Fernando de Henares was on November 24 last year. A crowd of journalists waited from early morning in freezing cold for the arrival of the Pujol family. It was the day that what has been dubbed the trial of the decade began, although after that day the media spotlight has not been the same. In Madrid, comments in talk shows have been minimal in recent months, and the trial has not made headlines on any other day than the first. Until this Monday, April 27, when there were more or less the same journalists again, this time suffering from the heat and with maximum expectation due to the widely misunderstood decision of the tribunal president, Ricardo de Prada, to make Jordi Pujol appear in person in the Spanish capital. "He has discovered the Mediterranean Sea," quipped a lawyer, when they decided to exclude the former president from the case due to incapacity.

In the end, Jordi Pujol's citation before the National High Court has been a kind of black whim (a capricho by Goya, who already denounced the abuses of power of the Spain of his time) by the court presided over by magistrate José Ricardo de Prada, who has not bothered to hide much his complacency in making the former Catalan president go through this grotesque episode. “The court does not want to fall into ageism,” he let slip, in an evident tone of mockery. In Madrid they have corroborated what had already been determined in Barcelona: that Pujol was not in physical or psychological condition to appear before a court. “Personal contact was essential,” insisted judge De Prada, light years away from acknowledging that he and the court had committed what in legal language is known as a monumental fuck-up. The most elementary common sense warned that the maneuver, besides being ugly, had no sense or content, beyond a gratuitous exhibition of power in greater abundance by ultranationalist Spain. But the most elementary common sense is something that cannot and should not be asked of the Spanish judiciary's leadership, because they are exempt from it.The episode recalls several things about justice in Spain. One, that slow justice is not justice and that when it takes ten, twelve, or fourteen years to judge things, it can happen, for example, that one of the accused (against whom, on the other hand, nothing has been proven) is already dead or in very poor health, as in this case. On the other hand, for the protagonists of the Kitchen case, which is being tried in the same National Court, the delay has been good for them to fuel the attacks of feigned amnesia with which they appear to testify. The mention of Kitchen leads us to the following questions: the different yardsticks of Spanish justice are also political. And this explains why De Prada and his court have fun mocking Pujol, while in the Kitchen courtroom, Judge Teresa Palacios takes care of interrupting or discrediting questions that might inconvenience Rajoy, De Cospedal, or Sáez de Santamaría, who not only do not receive any kind of vexatious treatment but arrive and leave with their heads held high. Placing justice at the service or against one political interest or another is one of the worst forms of perversion of the rule of law.This episode has also been a reminder that what we call the Catalonia-Spain conflict is the result of the sum of two weaknesses: that of Spain, which has never managed to complete, not even with the Civil War, its Jacobin and homogenizing national project (one state, one nation, one flag, one king, one language), and the weakness of Catalonia, which not only has not managed to get out of this national project of Spain, but also, to a large extent, does not want to get out of it. Spanish nationalism is boastful; Catalanism is victimist; both are resentful and rancorous. Nothing ever advances, or advances very little. Jordi Pujol is a complete personification of all this.

Former president Jordi Pujol, as was foreseeable, has been excluded from the trial against him and his family in the National Court. The reason has been the same that at the time removed his wife from the process: the lack of mental health, declared by the forensic doctors of Barcelona. And now from Madrid. A second examination was not necessary, because they belong to the same national body. And even less necessary was an examination by judges, because they are not doctors.

The trial for Jordi Pujol has ended. The court has removed him from the case due to his inability to defend himself. What we advanced could happen last Wednesday has happened. They have excluded him because the man was not in condition and because, fundamentally, it was much more convenient for them to remove him from the case than to acquit him, which, judging by the trial, was going to happen. A few minutes before eleven in the morning, two hours after the former president's arrival at the Audiencia, the president of the court, José Ricardo Prada, explained it like this:Court President: “The court had a very special interest in having an interview with Mr. Jordi Pujol Soley and knowing firsthand what his personal situation was. / The conclusion that the court draws or obtains is the impossibility of Mr. Jordi Pujol Soley remaining with full knowledge and capacities in this trial. Therefore, it is agreed that from this moment on he is… I don't want to use the word ‘expelled’, but yes, effectively, he is out of the proceedings. / The decision of the chamber has depended on the medical reports that existed previously, on the forensic medical report, which had already been provided at the beginning of the hearing sessions, and on the last medical report that the forensic doctor has issued to the court. And, as I say, also on the essential personal contact, since it is the court that must make the decision and cannot defer this decision to anyone else.”In this conversation that the judge mentioned, Pujol told the doctors he wanted to testify, which is what he had to say. Pujol is not one to hide, and if they were going to remove him from the case, the judge had to do it, not for him to ask for it. But, obviously, everyone knew that Pujol was not in a condition to testify, because he gets tired quickly, he doesn't hear well, he repeats himself and makes others repeat, he is nearly 96 years old, he walks with a walker and gets up late. The questions we have been asking ourselves these days persist: if the doctors had already said he couldn't go, if to have this final conversation with Pujol it wasn't necessary to make him go to Madrid, why did they make him go?  Well, so that it wouldn't be said that he was soft, and so that… I already told you last Wednesday. I told them: “Don't think that what I'm going to say now is an exaggerated flourish. Making him go to Madrid can also have another meaning (besides the mockery): that the judge covers himself and can say that, after making him go and have him examined by the forensic doctors, they are removing him from the case. Fundamentally, it is very possible that the court deems it better to say that they cannot judge him than to have to acquit him, which, seeing how the trial has gone, would not be at all unlikely.” And so it has been. Of course, let him pay the penalty of the news first, if nothing else. President Pujol is out of the case, but the trial of his children continues. Pujol will not have an acquittal from criminal justice. He will have the judgment of history. Good morning.

Jordi Pujol i Soley has finally been excluded from the judicial case that has his family at its epicenter after fourteen years of investigation. The procedure, which began in 2012 concerning his eldest son and worsened with the confession about grandfather Florenci's inheritance in 2014, has ended in the former president's case because he is not in a condition to be tried. Too much time has passed and his cognitive abilities are no longer adequate. This has been decided by the National Court, which has communicated his exclusion from the procedure after having seen him face to face. As the doctors had already repeatedly stated, the judges have confirmed the "impossibility" of Jordi Pujol continuing as an accused with "full knowledge and capabilities".

The last time I saw Jordi Pujol we talked about the Big Ben. Rac, rac, rac. The president searches his infinite folder system. Here. This. And we return to the disco with his words. That and that. And he enters here and leaves there. He was also there. He also lived it.

We read in l'ARA

Junts per Catalunya will accompany Jordi Pujol to San Fernando de Henares to "show him support". Next Monday, the former president of the Generalitat must go in person to the National Court so that a forensic doctor can examine him and the tribunal that is judging his family and nine businessmen can determine whether or not to keep him on the defendants' bench. If the decision is not to exempt him, he will subsequently have to testify as a defendant. Despite this, the forensic doctors said in November that "he is not in physical or cognitive condition" to be tried.

The National High Court does not want to fall into ageism –discrimination based on age– with Jordi Pujol. As the ARA has learned, this is how the president of the court judging the Pujol case, José Ricardo de Prada, argued at the start of Friday's trial session, the last one before the defendants' statements. It comes three days after it became known that the former president of the Generalitat will have to travel to Madrid on Monday for a forensic doctor to examine him and certify whether he is in a condition to continue on the defendants' bench. "The court does not want to fall into ageism," Judge Prada stated before the public session began and after one of the Pujol family's lawyers asked him to address the issue. In other words, they do not want to stop summoning him due to his advanced age. However, Jordi Pujol is not only 95 years old, but he also has markers of Alzheimer's in his blood. "I want Mr. Jordi Pujol Soley to participate in the proceedings with the certainty that he is in a condition to endure the trial," the judge added. "The court does not start from prejudice, it wants to see exactly his capabilities to determine whether he should continue or not," he concluded. Jordi Pujol's defense has opted not to file any new written submissions because they consider the decision to have been made and there is no room for modification. And they are leaning towards Jordi Pujol traveling to Madrid by car. It is not yet known for certain whether he will enter through the parking lot or not.

Both on the right and on the left, since the eighties the figure of Jordi Pujol has caused consensus in Madrid: almost everyone resents him. The bewilderment and misunderstanding with Catalonia and its claims found their first representation in him, and this is still maintained in the collective imagination of the Spanish capital. Perhaps it has nothing to do with it – one must always leave room for doubt – but the summons that has now been made to the former president at the Audiencia Nacional in Madrid for Monday seems to be understood only from this sentiment.

Salvador Illa asked for "common sense" from the justice system after learning that the National Court was forcing Jordi Pujol to travel to Madrid to testify, and this Thursday the Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Félix Bolaños, did so. "Surely [Jordi Pujol's health status] could have been checked in Barcelona. But it is a decision of the court," he stated in an interview on Catalunya Ràdio. Bolaños is confident that with the forensic doctor's examination, "Pujol's health status will be verified and a definitive decision will be made." "Judicial processes should not be more burdensome for the people who suffer them than strictly necessary," Bolaños added.

"I ask for sanity." After the National High Court's decision to summon Jordi Pujol to testify in person, Salvador Illa has defended the former president and called on the justice system to reconsider the health conditions in which he finds himself. The head of the Catalan executive recounted a call he received last week from Pujol, in which he explained that he was very "excited" to attend the inauguration of the Pau Casals Year in El Vendrell, but that he was "weak" and did not feel "up to it" to go.

Jordi Pujol i Soley will have to go personally to Madrid next Monday for a forensic doctor to examine him. If he gives the green light, Pujol will have to testify as a defendant in the trial against his family and several businessmen that has been taking place at the National Court for five months. In November, when the trial began, five forensic experts said he "is not in physical or cognitive condition" to be tried. Five months have passed and here we are again, the court wants to re-examine Pujol.Today the children are meeting with their lawyer, Cristóbal Martell, but there is nothing to be done to prevent the trip. In terms of cognitive abilities, Jordi Pujol is more or less the same as in November, although in an obvious process of regression. Consider that at the beginning of June, less than two months from now, he will be 96 years old. Apparently, Pujol does not understand why he was able to testify from home, remotely, when the trial began, and yet now they are making him go, even though, however old he may be, he understands that the images of him heading towards the Court and on the defendants' bench are very tempting.The question remains: why don't they want Pujol to testify telematically now? Why don't they trust what the forensic experts said in November? Because since November, Pujol may not have worsened, but he certainly hasn't improved. And why don't they send the forensic experts to Barcelona and examine him here? President Puigdemont yesterday cried out: “They can’t be more miserable”, he denounces. He believes that the National Court is seeking “scorn” and a photo to “humiliate not only a person, but above all what he represents”, and says that if it weren’t for his condition as an exile, he would have accompanied Pujol to Madrid “with great pleasure”. It is true that we saw Pujol not many weeks ago going to vote in the elections of Barça. And that he attends public events. But let's not be mistaken. One thing is to go to vote, which only requires a physical effort, and another is to sit in a trial in which you are accused and they ask for prison for you, and in which you have to defend yourself. Everyone who has spoken to Pujol says that he doesn't hear, that he makes them repeat the questions and that he asks you again something that you have only just answered him a moment ago.If we talk about justice, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office is asking for nine years in prison for the former Catalan president for the crimes of illicit association and money laundering. But you know what happens? That over thirty sessions, with 95% of the trial held, with expert and face-to-face testimonies, the former president's name has practically not even been mentioned. Therefore, and do not think that what I am about to say is an exaggerated pirouette, sending him to Madrid may also have another meaning (in addition to the mockery): that the judge may cover himself, may say that, after having him go there and have him examined by forensic experts, they are removing him from the case. In essence, it is quite possible that the court would prefer to say that they cannot judge him rather than having to acquit him, which, seeing how the trial has gone, would not be at all unlikely.Good morning.

Jordi Pujol i Soley will have to go "personally" to Madrid on Monday, April 27, for a forensic doctor to examine him as a preliminary step to his declaration as a defendant in the trial against his family and nine businessmen that has been underway in the National Court for five months. This is stated in a resolution, to which ARA has had access, which summons the former president of the Generalitat at 9:30 in the morning, despite the fact that "forensic doctors said in November"he is not in physical or cognitive condition" to be tried. Now the National Court is once again offering him the opportunity to provide "documents he deems appropriate for his medical evaluation." At 10 a.m. the declarations of the defendants will begin. Furthermore, the forensic doctor will have to be present "for the entire duration" of Pujol's declaration. Afterwards, it will be the turn of his eldest son, Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, who has been attending the sessions throughout the trial and who spearheaded the businesses and operations at the center of the case. The Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office is requesting nine years in prison for the former Catalan president for the crimes of illicit association and money laundering.

"In this new phase, we do not think a Catalan unity government is convenient. We must consolidate the institutions and accustom the country to the presidency of the Generalitat, but the time has come to govern". He probably did not imagine he would do so for 23 consecutive years, but the day after the 1980 elections, a triumphant Jordi Pujol was already beginning to envision that his main mission should be the creation of autonomous Catalonia. This year marks 46 years since Pujol was invested president, and it so happens that he has now been out of government for as many years as he spent at the head of the Generalitat.