"Never in the performance of his high public function did Jordi Pujol i Soley deviate from his upright and respectable exercise of the role, not resolving or inducing others to do so through his influence, nor neglecting the general interest for economic motivations that would favour his private interest or that of his children": so states the written defence brief of Jordi Pujol i Soley. The former president of Catalonia presented his final written defence submission today, just before Spain's National Audience sets a date for his trial.
With him, in the dock, will sit his children Jordi, Josep, Pere, Oriol, Oleguer, Marta and Mireia. The trial over the inheritance of the children's grandfather Florenci is presented as a defence of the figure of Jordi Pujol as president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, a position he held from 1980 to 2003. The defence submission states that his political activity was a cause of great concern to his father, and for this reason, he deposited the sum of 140 million pesetas (equivalent to about 840,000 euros) in a foreign account, first managed by Delfí Mateu, then by Joaquim Pujol, cousin of the former president, until 1990, when the Catalan politician's eldest son Jordi Pujol Ferrusola - Jordi "Junior" - took over the managament of the funds.
Pujol is recovering at home from cardiac arrhythmia for which he entered hospital on September 30th. The former president was admitted to Barcelona Hospital and underwent a defibrillation with good results. It is a condition typical of a person his age - he is 91 - when fatigued. Some sources note that he had been quite active over the days before that date. Pujol will have to travel to Madrid for the trial, which will take place in the National Audience. But that may still be a full year away. At the moment, the last stage of the investigation is underway.
In the defence brief, to which ElNacional.cat has had access, lawyer Cristóbal Martell highlights the public figure of the former president and the fact that in the exercise of his functions he never took any action "causally related with any abusive or illegitimate exercise of his authority and public powers". And for this reason he demands his client's acquittal. It is a short and direct submission, with a concise summary of the case, but with a broad description of the reasons that led grandfather Florenci to create this legacy for the Pujol-Ferrusola family: "The deep political instability and the risks that Jordi Pujol i Soley assumed produced deep worry and unease in his father Florenci Pujol Brugat, who predicted an uncertain future for him and his already-large family".
However, to present the defence of his eldest son, a 51-page submission was necessary. A defence brief that also seeks to highlight how Jordi Pujol Ferrusola came to take on the management of his grandfather's bequest: "Conceptually, a unitary management was sought, keeping the deposit all together and undistributed, precisely to meet need contingencies. The group of his children remained apart from the deposit and its management until in 1990 Joaquim Pujol i Figa expressed the desire to give up this responsibility and by agreement of all it was assumed by the oldest son Jordi Pujol Ferrusola".
Although the inheritance was to be managed on a unitary basis, in 1992, only two years after Jordi Junior took over its control, it began to be distributed among his siblings: "At the same time, already in 1992, given a remarkable political stability that made unthinkable the risks that the deposit was intended to insure, its gradual divestment was decided, when some siblings wanted to have availability of sums of liquidity, whether they used them or not, and Jordi Pujol Ferrusola began the progressive distribution, which began in August 1992 and ended in October 2000, at which time Jordi Pujol Ferrusola made a complete liquidation and accounting of its management (without prejudice to the deferral of amounts invested in 2004 in term securities)".
The defence insists in the fact that ten operations were detected during the investigation, but that none of them were illegitimate and illegal, and that Jordi Pujol Ferrussola invested the money and made it grow, but that at no time were public tenders linked to his father's government used: "They never received revenue linked to the public administration and its activity of contracting and awarding tenders, nor linked to any administrative resolutions."
The other brothers and sisters have also defended in their defence submissions the different business operations and investments they have carried out since they gained full access to their respective parts of the inheritance in the year 2000.