The judge of the 'Pujol case' asks Justice to verify the problems of access to the personal documentation of the clan

The Chamber ordered him to ascertain whether the problems were due to a "system defect or a lack of computer skills"

MADRID, 15 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The judge of the National Court in charge of the investigation of the 'Pujol case' has asked the Ministry of Justice to verify if the technical problems denounced by the clan of the former Catalan president to access the personal documentation in the case where the origin of the family heritage are true and, if so, indicate the reason and the way to correct them.

In an order from last Friday, to which Europa Press has had access, the head of the Central Court of Instruction Number 5, Santiago Pedraz, complies with the resolution by which the Criminal Chamber ordered him to verify if there are reasons that prevent the Pujol family "to access the Cloud digital platform".

Thus, and following the mandate of the Chamber, the magistrate has issued an official letter to the New Technologies Unit of the Ministry of Justice in order for them to issue a technical-informatics report on whether it is possible to access, download and view the elements that would affect the privacy of the Pujols.

The clan, specifically, maintains that it has not been able to access the "material seized at the entrances and house searches and transferred to computer formats." The family considers it essential to be able to have access to them to ensure "their right to defense in this criminal proceeding" and so that "the right to privacy of the appellant or third parties is not violated."

In March 2022, the Chamber itself already agreed with the Pujol family and ordered the magistrate to expunge the documentation urged by the clan. However, the Pujol defense complained to the judge later, alleging technical problems in accessing those papers and requesting that they be provided with the original hard drives or a computer copy of them, an end rejected by the instructor.

In the first instance, Judge Pedraz rejected the requested purge regarding those documents that had not been able to be identified as it was not proven that they affected "their right to privacy or that of third parties unrelated" to the case. Faced with this decision, the defense of Pujol Ferrusola went to the Criminal Chamber, which has partially agreed with him.

It was in an order from last Thursday in which the magistrates of the Third Section partially upheld the appeal filed by Jordi Pujol Ferrusola. The eldest son of the former Catalan president had requested that he be granted "access and obtaining a copy through a simple dump on hard drives for the purpose of exercising his defense and the possibility of expunging those files" to which he had not been able to access.

For the Chamber itself, "the reasonable thing, to respect the notarial public faith, is to make sure" that the problems denounced by the Pujol exist and "that those responsible inform the court if it really could have happened" what was reported by the eldest son of the clan and , "if so, if it was due to a defect in the system or a lack of computer skills, or any other reason to be related to the party or the court or whatever".

The magistrates stress that it must be verified "technically by the said computer managers what is included in the notarial deed" provided by the family which, according to the Chamber, "proves, at least as a principle of proof, that despite having tried" to make with the documents "has not gained access".

Likewise, the Chamber considers that those responsible must seek "a technical solution so that the appellant party can access a copy (of the hard drives) that has been uploaded to the Cloud digital platform."

"To this extent, it is appropriate to uphold the appeal. Through this, the appellant has focused his complaint on the fact that, despite having persistently tried, he has not been able to find out all the material seized in the entrances and house searches and transferred to formats computer systems, and stresses that they need access to all this material", the magistrates report.