The Dana judge rules out the responsibility of the mayors and points again to the Generalitat | News from the Valencian Community

The judge who investigates the Dana that last October left 228 dead in the province of Valencia, Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, rejects that the criminal responsibility of the tragedy should focus on the mayors and insists on pointing to the « Autonomic administration » as guarantor of the management of the crisis, according to a order notified this Friday. « The opposite would lead to the investigation as alleged perpetrators of the homicides to the mayors of almost all of the populations where deaths and injuries occurred, which would place us out of criminal law, » the instructor justifies.

The magistrate emphasizes that the Generalitat, « who legally assumed the emergency command (…) had multiple information channels » to unravel the dimension of the flood. And as an example of these sources the data of the Spanish Meteorology Agency (Aemet), the media, the 112- the telephone service of the autonomous administration that on 29-O received almost 20,000 calls- or the officials who controlled the ravines and channels. With this thesis, the judge returns to focus on the executive of Carlos Mazón and rejects the responsibility of the mayors. In his opinion, the municipes « were surprised, did not receive the precise information or specifically advised on the measures to be adopted. » Ruiz Tobarra is expressed in a car in the discard imputing the mayor of Utiel, Ricardo Gabaldón, of the PP, as requested by two victims of this municipality.

Despite discarding “flat” the responsibility of the first councilors, the instructor has agreed to cite as witnesses the mayors of the Valencian towns of Utiel and Algemesí, José Javier Sanchís Bretones, of the PP. And also in the same condition to the Head of Climatology of the Spanish Meteorology Agency (Aemet) in the Valencian Community, José Ángel Núñez, together with three workers of the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHJ), which depends on the Ministry for Ecological Transition.

With forcefulness, the judge slows the attempts to splash the Government of Pedro Sánchez of one of the private accusations, which requested the National Security Department- an advisory chief to the Chief of the Executive in Security matters- his reports on Dana’s Day. The magistrate He argues that the responsibility for the management of the catastrophe was of the Generalitat and not of the central government. « Civil protection is autonomous competence, the statute (of autonomy) and the law establishes it. » And censures an « inactivity patent » in the tragedy that « occurred in the autonomous field. » In addition, according to the magistrate, « there was consensus at the regional and central level in which the National Emergency Declaration did not proceed (…). Nor was the catastrophic emergency situation declared (…), competence attributed to the president of the Generalitat Valenciana. » The judge argues that there was « plenty flood.

In her last car battery, the instructor rejects that emergency calls be requested from the National Police, the Civil Guard and local police. And that an expert report on the “alleged falsehood” of a photo that the Valencian Executive facilitated the court is carried out. The image showed President Carlos Mazón, of the PP, crossing the door of the Cecopi- the emergency body of the Generalitat that met on October 29- at 20.28 hours, 17 minutes after its executive sent the mass alert to mobile phones, which arrived when there were dozens of killed people, disappeared and trapped in low floors and garages.

The instructor has also rejected the request of Citizens, who exercises the popular accusation, of requesting information on the official vehicles that used the two charges of Mazón accused: the former advice of Justice and Interior Salome Salome Pradas and who was his number two during the flood, Emilio Argüeso. The training claimed the name of the drivers and the itinerary that these former positions followed – they were ceased by the President Four weeks after the catastrophe- as well as information about their agendas. « The issue lies in the lack of decisions aimed at alerting the population and, for this, an analysis of the official agenda of said investigated is not exhaustive, » says the magistrate. Ruiz Tobarra returns, thus, to focus on his inquiries in the delay of the shipping of the massive Mobile SMS to inform the population of the magnitude of the tragedy. A message that, if sent before, according to the instructor, would have saved lives.

The magistrate rejects, again, the request of the popular accusation of cultural action of the Valencià country to request information from the Generalitat to investigate Mazón’s displacements on the day of the tragedy and the following day. Due to his condition as Afforado, the Chief of the Consell can only be investigated after the approval of the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV) with the instructor’s reasoned exhibition.