Former President of the Generalitat Jordi Pujol in the editorial office of Ràdio Barcelona Gianluca Battista
Jordi Pujol, 92, broke this Friday his self-exclusion from radio interviews, which began after revealing the existence of an undeclared inheritance in Andorra in 2014, with his participation in the latest program of Here Cuní in Ser Catalunya. The former president has reviewed international news that lamented the “sadness” his confession has caused, and while he’s tried to dodge questions about his legal status, he ended up dropping a phrase that’s sure to spark controversy: “I would put my hand in the fire of a large part of my family,” he said.
“Neither I nor in general do I think that my children have any subterfuges or anything like that,” said the former Catalan president when asked about his family’s legal situation. The family man and the seven children of the family are waiting for a trial in which it will be clarified whether they have made a profit as a criminal organization for decades with alleged corrupt activities. Journalist Josep Cuní asked Pujol if he was afraid of the trial. “The Last Judgment?” replied the founder of the extinct Convergència.
Pujol and his seven children (Jordi, Josep, Oleguer, Pere, Oriol, Marta and Mireia) will be in the dock as suspected members of a conspiracy on charges including tortious association, money laundering and anti-Treasury affairs. The members of the family clan are brought to trial along with 11 other people, mostly businessmen. Prosecutors are demanding nine years in prison for the former leader of the extinct Convergència. Marta Ferrusola, Pujol’s wife, was barred from the trial because of “severe dementia,” according to Judge Pedraz’s ruling at the time.
Judge José de la Mata, who preceded Pedraz in office and issued the indictment in July 2020, explained that from their “privileged position” the clan concocted a network of influences to enrich themselves until, thanks to the “excessive “ Inheritance have accumulated collection of illegal commissions. The scandal erupted in July 2014 when Pujol confessed that his family kept a millionaire inheritance outside of Spain and without giving any reason. The revelation of the President of the Generalitat for 23 years caused deep shock and outrage in Catalan society. The Generalitat and Parliament stripped him of all the powers and honors he valued as a former President.
During the interview, Pujol said he wasn’t surprised by the audios, which show there had been a “government operation” to try to tarnish his family’s image, and didn’t respond to whether the confession was about his inheritance or that overshadowed alleged irregularities in his family’s abuse of the privileged position in which they found themselves. “It is evident that there was an action that harmed what I represented,” he affirmed. “Of course it hurts me to be called corrupt. I’ve never taken a peseta,” riveted.
The former president has confessed to Cuní, who is leaving Ràdio Barcelona’s morning program, that he had agreed to take part in his program to thank him for his contribution to Catalan culture and the promotion of the language. Pujol has also taken the opportunity to express his concerns about the current situation in Catalonia and its relationship with Spain. “Because I know history, I can tell you that Spain and Russia look the same. Spain is a country trying to drown what is next to it,” he assured.
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Despite the fact that he repeated his ideas at different times and made detours, Pujol showed his encyclopedic knowledge of European history and Catalan territory. “I’ve been a nationalist since I was 14, I was never an independent,” he asserted, later recalling that at the time he used secessionist flags to insult the youth who took part in his rallies. “Our flag is the Quatribarrada,” he said, referring to the Senyera.
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