A Spanish court has declared former Catalan leader Jordi Pujol, 95, unfit to stand trial in a long-running corruption case alleging his family concealed as much as €290 million in illicitly obtained wealth in Andorra, The Times reported.
The ruling exempts the once-powerful regional politician from proceedings after a fresh forensic assessment found he lacked the cognitive capacity to testify or take part in a criminal trial. The decision ends months of uncertainty over whether Pujol, described as the “father of modern Catalan nationalism,” would ever face justice in a case that has shadowed his legacy, according to The Times.
“The court has concluded that Jordi Pujol cannot remain with full awareness and faculties during this trial,” presiding judge José Ricardo de Prada said at the hearing, adding that the former leader would be “left out” of proceedings, the newspaper said.
The trial, which opened a decade after Pujol’s 2014 confession of tax avoidance, centers on allegations of criminal association and money laundering against Pujol and his seven children. Prosecutors allege the family amassed its fortune through illicit commissions tied to public contracts awarded during his 23 years in office. Pujol acknowledged in 2014 that he had stashed €11 million in Andorran bank accounts to avoid tax, attributing the money to an inheritance from his father but denied any link to corruption, according to the news outlet.
Prosecutors had been seeking prison sentences of up to nine years for Pujol, while some of his children face terms of up to 29 years if convicted, The Times reported. Proceedings will continue against his children and other defendants.
Pujol led the northeastern Spanish region for 23 years and played a pivotal role in Spain’s transition to democracy following the 1975 death of dictator Francisco Franco, according to The Times. As leader of the now-defunct Convergence and Union alliance, he propped up minority governments in Madrid in exchange for expanded autonomy for Catalonia in areas including health and education.
His reputation collapsed in 2014 after his confession about hidden funds abroad, prompting years of investigations into alleged corruption within his family, The Times reported. Authorities later identified as much as €290 million in accounts linked to the Pujols, with investigators suspecting some of the fortune stemmed from illegal commissions.
The case has long been viewed as a test of Spain’s willingness to pursue high-level political corruption, and critics have accused the country’s establishment of dragging out proceedings, according to the report.
Read more at The Times