Two former senior Ayuso government officials charged for the first time in the deaths at nursing homes

Madrid / BarcelonaMore than five years later, justice begins to settle accounts for The 7,291 people who died in the Community of Madrid's nursing homes During the pandemic, for the first time, two former senior officials in Isabel Díaz Ayuso's government will have to testify as suspects in a judicial proceeding, according to a statement from two victims' associations. And legal sources confirm this. Throughout this time, the Madrid president has avoided self-criticism regarding her administration's actions during COVID-19.

For now, those summoned to testify as suspects by Madrid's investigating court number 3 this coming Monday, May 26, are Carlos Mur and Francisco Javier Martínez Peromingo. The former was director of social and health coordination for the Madrid government when the health crisis began, signing the so-called "protocol of shame," which blocked the transfer of thousands of sick elderly people to hospital. The latter—according to the entities—coordinated the technical protocol that complemented the former and replaced Muro in the position in May 2020. On April 1, the judge decided, at the request of the Prosecutor's Office, to reopen a case that had been provisionally closed almost three years earlier.

Behind the public prosecutor's request was a collective complaint filed by victims' associations in October of last year, targeting senior officials of the Ayuso government for the alleged commission of the crime of discriminatory denial of health care, punishable under Article 5. Ayuso's first reaction was to disassociate herself from the matter. "It was closed three years ago, and the Prosecutor's Office has decided to reopen it. That's all the information I have," she simply stated in a statement to the media on Friday.

Family members celebrate it

The two victims' associations, Marea de Residencias and 7291: Verdad y Justicia, have celebrated that the process has now led to two indictments: "All the judicial investigations carried out until now had focused on directors or doctors of the residences, but never on those who drew up the reports, made the decisions, and failed to apply the patient protocols," they stated, although they made it clear that the investigation cannot be limited to Muro and Peromingo.

"Although as those under investigation, they are not obligated to tell the truth, we ask them to explain that truth and reveal the involvement of the then Minister of Health, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, and Ayuso herself in the decisions taken by the regional government that had a brutal impact on the lives of many residents," they conclude.

Más Madrid and PSOE point to Ayuso

"Everyone responsible, whose name is Isabel Díaz Ayuso, will have to be held accountable," reacted Manuela Bergerot, spokesperson for Más Madrid in the Madrid Assembly, praising the "persistence" of family associations in the face of the "cruelest president." She also stated that Ayuso and her executive "will have to give explanations" and welcomed the opening of a "ray of hope" for the victims.