Twist in the Alvia case: the prosecutor withdraws the accusation against the former Adif Security director and only requests the conviction of the driver

Turn in the trial for the Alvia train accident in which in July 2013 80 people died and 144 were injured. This Tuesday, after the declaration phase of the criminal and civil proceedings concluded, the documentary and conclusions process began and the prosecutor, Mario Piñeiro, announced that he is withdrawing the accusation against the former director of Traffic Safety at Adif, Andrés Cortabitarte, accused for 80 crimes of homicide and 145 injuries due to serious professional negligence and one for damages.

The Prosecutor's Office, with this decision, only maintains its accusation against the driver of the Alvia, Francisco José Garzón Amo, tried for the same crimes and for whom, until now, the Public Ministry requested the same sentence. The train driver is also asked for special disqualification from the profession of railway engineer for the time of the sentence, disqualification that in the case of Cortabitarte was for the exercise of any profession that implies management, security or responsibility in railway infrastructures.

In his initial letter, Mario Piñeiro maintained that the tragic accident would not have happened if Adif and the Traffic Safety department at that time “had evaluated and managed the risk of speeding” in the section of the accident, but this Tuesday they agreed remove that allusion.

He initially maintained that Cortabitarte “infringed the duty he held due to his status within Adif, as the head of said management, which had the duty to manage and mitigate the risks of speeding not covered by the protection system of the line itself. and the train”. However, it now concludes that “he did not infringe the duty he held as head of the service and acted in accordance with the procedures included in the management system approved by the national security authority.”

Regarding the driver, he maintains that he was traveling at 199 km/h in a section close to the vicinity of a dangerous curve, that of A Grandeira, when he answered a call to the corporate mobile phone, which does not have a hands-free system, made by the intervener, speaking for 100 seconds. In responding, “he omitted the minimum attention to his professional duties” and at that time he broke “the minimum rules of attention and professionals that are required of him”. When he finally did react, he managed to reduce the speed to 179.38 km/h, but it was insufficient to prevent the train from derailing.

The lawyer of the Platform of Victims of Alvia 04155, which represents the majority of those affected, Manuel Alonso, has maintained his accusation and his four-year request for both defendants after a “quite favorable” trial for the interests of the victims, since the test “has been much stronger than in the investigation phase” and everything is “corroborated”.

Final phase of the trial

The trial entered its final phase on Tuesday after going through the courtroom in the Cidade da Cultura de Galicia 522 witnesses, 21 witnesses/experts and 126 experts; and the 446 injured people who claim for this accident registered almost a decade ago on the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela, on the A Grandeira curve in the Angrois neighborhood. Now, it will be the turn of the reports from the parties, which will last until July 27, three days after the tenth anniversary of the incident.

The session was special and, for the first time since last October 6, the two defendants met in the courtroom. The driver had not returned since the day he testified as a defendant, while Cortabitarte did return to the trial during some technical sessions in the first weeks of the oral hearing.

In the process of this Tuesday, the presence of both was mandatory, as well as of all the parties in person, so that a hearing room was filled again, which in recent months has been practically empty. In this case there are 154 accusations assisted by 110 lawyers and all attended without fail.

To support his fellow driver, several dozen train drivers also gathered at the gates of the trial.. The spokesman for the train drivers' union (Semaf), Diego Martín, explained that they were seeking to “clothe” Garzón, with whom “they feel identified” and has assured that “we are not going to stop accompanying him in this final stage”.

Victims criticize a “political” decision

The prosecutor's decision caused “outrage” among the victims of the accident. Its president, Jesús Domínguez, maintains that “there has been nothing in the oral trial to justify it, quite the contrary”, since all the independent experts and Christopher Carr, former head of security for the European Railway Agency, “made it clear that It was necessary to carry out a risk analysis and that, if it had been done, this danger would have been avoided”.

In fact, they consider that, after the trial, “the responsibility of Cortabitarte has been further entrenched”. In fact, the lawyer for the platform has maintained the same accusation against him and against the driver, but has requested greater disqualification for the former position of Adif, which they raise to six years..

For Domínguez, the “only explanation” for this change in position is “political”, that the State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, has given orders to the prosecutor in the case to “free the administration”, which shows that Mario Piñeiro “he is a good servant and follows orders”. Regarding the political implication of this case, they recall that the former socialist minister José Blanco “hurried” for the inauguration, so that the line was opened “without risk analysis” that would justify the decision to withdraw the security system. ERTMS' of the last kilometers of the route that did appear in the initial project.