The DANA judge indicts the former Minister of the Interior and excludes Mazón for now

ValenciaConclusive, very blunt. This was the judge from Catarroja who is investigating the management of the DANA in the Valencian Country and who cited as suspects the former Valencian Minister of Justice and Interior Salomé Pradas and the former regional Secretary of Emergencies, Emilio Argüeso, in a categorical resolution in which she points out numerous errors in the management of the government; the main one, the lack of warnings to the population.

On the contrary, she has decided not to summon either as suspect or as a witness the head of the Consell, Carlos Mazón. In case of wanting to charge the president, and given the status of the PP politician as a privileged person, she should submit a reasoned request to the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Country and it would be the high court that would decide. However, the judge has offered Mazón to testify voluntarily, which he would do as a suspect, not as a witness, and has notified him of the order.

The reasons for the accusation of the former councilor

The magistrate, who is investigating the case for the alleged crimes of homicide and injuries due to negligence during the day of October 29, reiterates in her writing that the warning to the population sent through the ES-Alert system at 8:11 p.m. "was late and erroneous." She also recalls that the DANA "was not an unforeseen meteorological phenomenon," since the Spanish Meteorological Agency (Aemet) reported its progress and development, "to the point that the University of Valencia agreed to completely suspend its activities." According to the magistrate, these forecasts "should have led to a call in the morning" of that day of the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi), "with the objective, at least, of warning the population."

In a statement yesterday, Pradas defended himself by assuring that "from the first minute to the last" he was "attending to his duties" on October 29. She also said that she found out about the accusation through the press and that she is "at the disposal" of anyone who requires her to reveal "the truth" about everything that happened with the DANA catastrophe.

Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra reiterates that the announcements about the "seriousness of the situation" occurred "in various areas and with sufficient notice" through the Aemet, calls to the Generalitat's 112 emergency telephone number, the media or the Hydrographic Confederation of the X. "The problem would not lie in the absence of information, there was plenty of it, and through countless means, in real time […], but in the fact that in the face of this information, it was either ignored, its scope was not understood […] or the pertinent decisions were not taken by whoever had the power to make decisions," she stresses.

Regarding the debate on the competent bodies, the judge is also clear: "It was the responsibility of the regional authorities to alert the population, agree on the relevant measures in the field of civil protection, guarantee and minimise the consequences of the rainfall." This lack is, according to the magistrate, the "foundation of negligence with criminal relevance, the serious imprudence" of the Generalitat.

Regarding the indictment of Salomé Pradas, Ruiz Tobarra points out that she was assigned as the highest authority "the process of adopting self-protection measures for the population", and regarding Argüeso she points out that his statement is necessary given his "organic relevance and, therefore, decisive". The instructor rejects indicting the other defendants in the case such as the director general of Emergencies, a head of service, the deputy director of the Valencian Agency for Security and Response to Emergencies (AVSRE) and the president of the CHX.

"Long delay of Cecopio"

For the judge, the call for the Cecopio at 5 pm "was carried out with a great delay, to which must be added [the fact] that the decision-making by the autonomous administration aimed at alerting the population took place with an even greater delay." The Cecopio - she continues - "is a coordinating body" in matters of emergencies with other administrations, but "this is completely independent of the decisions that can be taken in the field of civil protection by whoever holds not only the exclusive competence, but the possibility of carrying out the communication to the population of the protection measures." "It was not necessary, in short, to have the agreement of up to the 29 people who made up the Cecopio. Simply, [it was necessary] to take the decision to warn the citizens that they could be affected," she adds in a harsh criticism of Salomé Pradas' inaction.

Regarding the message sent, the magistrate points out that "the investigation must determine the reasons, so far unexplained, of why the population was not told to take shelter by going up to other areas, beyond the painful, late and incomplete, due to its content, message that was limited to asking people to avoid travel," she said.

Ruiz Tobarra also rejects the alleged "information blackout" by the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation on the overflow of the Poio ravine reported by the PP. "It cannot be alleged that the emergency managers of the Generalitat Valenciana are unaware of the SAIH [Automatic Hydrological Information System] or of the possibility of access, or in parallel attribute criminal responsibility to the president of the CHX, or to practically all the management or non-management positions of this body," she insists.