Negligence in DANA management? Keys to the judicial process

These are the keys to the court case opened at Examining Court No. 3 in Catarroja, Valencia, where 229 people died as a result of DANA in October 2024. 

What's being investigated? 

The alleged negligence of DANA in managing the emergency on 29 October 2024 and the delay in sending the message that reached the inhabitants ofValencia at 8.11 p.m. The judge has observed "terrible signs of negligent conduct", as he has specified in the files, by the leaders of the Conselleria d'International (now missing, the Emergency Department).

How long has it been under investigation? 

The courts in Valencia began to receive complaints from private individuals, directly affected and not directly, in the days following the floods, either through criminal proceedings or through administrative litigation, in which details of the disappearance of relatives were provided, but direct accusations were also made against various officials of the Autonomous Community and the State Administrations.

Who's being investigated? 

The cause, for the time being, has investigated two cases of "inactivity", although it is a guarantor of the safety of the population:

   - Salome Pradas: Counsellor for Justice and Home Affairs from July to November 22, 2024, when he was dismissed. He was the highest authority on Cecopin Dana's day and "in the process of adopting measures of citizen self-protection." In his statement, he claimed inexperience and delegated responsibility to the technicians.

    - Emilio Argüeso: Secretary of Autonomous Emergencies or second of the Ministry ofJustice and Home Affairs, from July 2024 until December 3, 2024, when he was dismissed. In his judicial statement he maintained a "thesis of ignorance" that was taking place on October 29, "which is not for the judge."

What's Mazon's role? 

The President of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, is currently out of the judicial process by rejecting the three offers made by the investigating judge to go and testify as an investigator.

Ventorro lunch.

The "elephant in the room" in this judicial case is because no evidence of its duration has been provided, and so far the investigating judge has believed that asking the journalist who shared a table and tablecloth with Carlos Mazon that day was as much as investigating the president himself, something that goes beyond his powers.

Accusations 

There are currently about 40 indictments in the case, of which about 10 are for popular action and the rest for private prosecution.