The DANA judge accuses Pradas and Argüesso of "gross negligence."

ValenciaA new and forceful ruling from the judge investigating the DANA flooding case in the Valencian Community has accused former Minister of Justice and the Interior, Salomé Pradas, and former regional Secretary of Emergencies, Emilio Argüeso, of "manifest passivity" and "grossly negligent" conduct during the massacre. She also criticized them for justifying their inaction by complaining "absurdly" about a lack of information and providing responses to the court that generate "genuine astonishment." The judge also described the actions of the two senior officials as "gross negligence," with a "hardly justifiable lack of knowledge regarding possible decisions [...] or the tools to be used, such as the ES-Alert system."

The judge included these statements in a ruling made public this Wednesday, in which she reiterates that there was no opacity on the part of the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHX). Therefore, the government reaffirms its refusal to charge the president of the hydrographic authority, Miguel Polo. It also rejects the possibility of prosecuting three senior officials in the Emergency Department: the director general, Alberto Martín Moratilla; the deputy director general, Jorge Suárez; and the head of service, Inmaculada Piles. It states that its charge "cannot be based exclusively on the composition of the regional administrative structure."

Regarding Polo, he points out that the alleged lack of information from the CHX regarding the evolution of the flows of the rivers and ravines that overflowed their banks "has been denied," and emphasizes that this information was sent "via email" and could be consulted at any time on the internet.

In the case of Pradas and Argüeso, he lamented "the manifest passivity displayed by those under investigation in alerting the population." Furthermore, and in reference to his complaint about the alleged information blackout by the Confederation, he states that it is "absurd": "It is incompatible to complain about the lack of information and, at the same time, exclude oneself from the meeting to which it was supposed to be provided [in reference to the two moments in which he was disconnected from Cecopio]."

The victims of the DANA will sue Vox

To reverse an instruction that, until now, has focused entirely on the alleged inaction of the Generalitat, the PP, Vox, and the entourage of the former minister and her former deputy have promoted a strategy that consists of discrediting the associations of victims and families of the DANA victims most critical of the Valencian government.

As has been the case for months in the Valencian Community, the far right is setting the pace, which this week began to question the autonomy of these organizations. "Normally, the associations that are formed the day after such a tragedy are not really made up of those truly affected, but of those truly interested," said José María Llanos, Vox's spokesperson in Parliament, on Tuesday. In this way, the far-right politician was trying to justify why the victims' organizations are not included in the list of those appearing before the DANA investigation commission approved by the PP and Vox in the Valencian Parliament.

And since the far-right party depends on the head of the Consell, Carlos Mazón, retaining his seat, this Wednesday the government spokesperson, Susana Camarero, joined the argument of her parliamentary partner. "We know that not all [associations] are the same. We know that there are some with a marked partisan profile, led by people whose profile represents certain parties," the first vice president argued.

The words of Llanos and Camarero have significantly upset those affected and relatives of victims of the catastrophe. This is the case of the Association of Victims of the DANA Horta Sud Valencia, which represents 271 people, which will file a lawsuit against José María Llanos for libel and slander. "Treating the association as an entity controlled by political parties demonstrates a profound lack of knowledge about it, its actions, its members, and its local origins," said its president, Christian Lesaec, in a statement. He also noted that the organization had filed a complaint for five crimes against "six people responsible."

Lesaec's complaint was not the only one, and two other organizations have also protested, including the Association of Mortal Victims of the DANA (National Association of Victims of Crimes), which has called on Llanos to rectify his position. The PP and Vox do not seem willing to do so and criticize the platform for the fact that its spokesperson is a journalist who works in the areas of the Catarroja City Council managed by Compromís. Both parties also criticize the fact that, a few years ago, Lesaec was on the Valencian coalition's list in the municipality of Alfafar.

The judge, in the crosshairs

The far right has also begun to focus on investigating judge Núria Ruiz Tobarra. Vox did so in March when, again through José María Llanos, it criticized the judge for including "considerations" in her rulings. These criticisms are now compounded by the publication of information in media outlets such as OK Diario that point to alleged interference by the judge's husband, also Judge Jorge Martínez.

These reports claim that the judge has witnessed some interrogations and argued with some of the parties. These claims have been denied in ARA by people present at all the sessions held so far. These same sources indicate that the judge only accompanies his partner to the courtroom door because they both work at the City of Justice in Valencia. "He has never been inside the courtroom," reiterates a source who links the publication of the news with the objective of "intoxicating." Curiously, this account of the events was not denied by the representatives of Pradas and Argüeso's defenses, who acknowledged to ARA that they have no grounds to file a complaint against Ruiz Tobarra and that they distanced themselves from the content of the reports. Despite these statements, the main accused, former counselor Salomé Pradas, did not hesitate to share the news on her social networks.OK Diario.