In just six months, the former president of the Generalitat Jordi Pujol And their seven children will sit on the bench of the National Court accused of crimes of illicit, bleaching and fiscal fraud, among others.
That the one that was the family with the greatest power in Catalonia for more than two decades is judged by alleged corrupt activities “used its privileged position of ancestry in Catalan political, social and economic life” reinforces – presumption of innocence through – confidence in an equal justice for all. But slow, very slow.
So much so that when the media trial begins on November 10, Jordi Pujol will already be 95 years old – he will turn on June 9 – and his image before the Court as a visual epitome of that proverbial Renquehating justice – once or in the absence of means and with a ratio of judges per inhabitant below the European average – worries in the National Court, where the sources consulted do not hesitate to qualify it as “devastating.”
Not surprisingly, more than twelve years have passed since, in January 2013, Victoria Álvarezex -girlfriend Jordi Pujol Ferrusolafirstborn of the convergent leader, denounced at the National Court – after having made it before the Police in December of the previous year – the trips to Andorra with money bags and the hidden family accounts, that Jordi Pujol would end up recognizing in July 2014, although attributing them to a paternal heritage.
That January 17 in which Judge Pablo Ruzfirst instructor of the case, he reluctantly declared Victoria Álvarez – obtained by the Third Section of the Criminal Chamber at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office -, the future of the proceedings was guessed uncertain.
In the halls of the National Court in Madrid’s Street Prim – the headquarters of the Instruction Courts was under construction – it was even heard that the ex -partner of Pujol Ferrusolaactuated for spite and that, after the necessary investigation actions, their accusations were committed to the archive.
“What the pussy is that of the Udef?”
But not. The investigation went ahead promoted by the reports of the Police Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit – “What the hell is that of the UDEF?” Jordi Pujol wondered in the Parliament months later as if the thing was not with him. For more than a decade, Judge Pablo Ruz was followed by two: José de la Mata and Santiago Pedraz.
An endless investigation – almost all in which we must fight rogatory commissions abroad claiming international judicial assistance – that it was prolonged even more if it fits for more than two years by the screening of the summary of private data of the Pujol family and the recurring complaints of their defense about the computer problems to access the diligence to be able to carry out that Expurge that will not leave the weather and images of their intimidity. staff.
The prolonged processing of the cause – during which was separated from the procedure for suffering Alzheimer’s wife Pujol’s wife, Marta Ferrusoladeceased in July last year – will carry, according to the sources consulted, that the Court is obliged to apply a very qualified mitigating of undue delay, which in case of conviction – the Anti -Corruption Prosecutor’s Office claims for the former president of the Generalitat a penalty of nine years in prison by illicit association and money laundering – this would be sensibly reduced.
A circumstance that, they point out, would further enliven citizen perplexity to the consequences of a judicial response so long over time.
“Who believes that an old man ‘rehabilitas’?”
“Late justice is not justice,” says legal sources, which highlight that “the general preventive effect of penalty is diluted: psychological coercion to the community to avoid future crimes.”
In any case, they add, “judge an old man of 95 years of home with the very foundations of criminal justice” to the extent that “the reeducating and rehabilitative foundation of the penalty is blurred.”
“An old man does not defend himself, he is complacent and has a low guard,” they insist. “Question is almost abuse, because they do not measure the scope of what they say.”
“Who believes that an old man” rehabilites “?” They wonder about it before remembering that our Constitution “expresses resocialization as the foundation and purpose of the penalty”, which in this case – they resort to “” is perceived as an uselessness. “
Faced with this position, those who defend that, apart from their age, Jordi Pujol must account for justice for the supposed criminal acts attributed to him.
So that an excessive instruction cannot serve the Parapet Exacting, due to their advanced age, to avoid the trial.
In any case, its presence in the Chamber can be fleeting (the trial is expected to end in April 2026) since it is assumed that, if necessary, its defense will ask the court to be exempt from going after its statement until the last word procedure.
As long as, of course, their lawyers do not contribute before a medical certificate that verifies a possible cognitive impairment, by virtue of which they ask the Chamber to file the actions.
In the retina of the National Court, another image that in 2009 staged the “bench penalty.” Two former ICU directors very close to Pujol himself, Macià Alavedra and Lluís Prenfetathey were photographed at the gates of the paid courts and holding garbage bags with their belongings after being transferred from the Soto del Real prison to declare before Judge Baltasar Garzón for the “pretory operation.”
The internal investigation was filed, but the stir originated forced to review the protocols for detainees to prevent such a situation from being repeated.