The Central Togado Court number two plans to begin this Tuesday a round of testimonial and expert appearances by videoconference, in the case investigating the death on December 21 of soldier Carlos León Rico, a native of El Viso del Alcor (Seville); and Corporal Miguel Ángel Jiménez Andújar, a native of Adamuz (Córdoba), in maneuvers at the base of the Guzmán el Bueno X Brigade of Cerro Muriano, in Córdoba.
According to the criminal lawyer and doctor of Law Luis Romero, who represents the family of the deceased soldier Carlos León Rico, after the Military Court number 21 of Seville was inhibited, the Central Court Court number two has agreed to take charge of the case, by “ see signs of criminal responsibility because the events were very serious and all responsibilities must be found out”, agreeing that they appear as investigated, in addition to Captain Ignacio Zúñiga Morillas, Lieutenant Jaime Tato Garrido and Sergeant Gustavo Álvarez Estupiñán; Colonels Tostón Méndez and Navarro González, as well as Lieutenant Colonel Zanfaño Hidalgo and a commander.
The court, according to this lawyer, has not yet set a date for the appearance of these military commanders, but it has summoned 42 witnesses and experts to testify by videoconference on June 25, 26 and 27, making these statements They will start this Tuesday.
Since the events occurred, according to this lawyer, as a representative of the deceased soldier from Visueño drowned at the Cerro Muriano base, he has been demanding “these accusations and that of the brigadier general, on which we will continue to insist. Subsequently, we have reiterated it in several appeals and writings addressed to the Military Court of Seville.”
New requests
From now on, according to Luis Romero, as a private accusation he will insist on requesting that Brigadier General Ignacio Olazábal also be investigated and that the proceedings be dismissed in relation to Sergeant Álvarez Estupiñán.
In the order of the court of the Military Court No. 21 of Seville of inhibition before the Central Court Court, the aforementioned judicial instance states that the actions taken regarding the death of soldier León Rico and Corporal Jiménez Andújar on December 21 during the of an exercise consisting of the crossing of an artificial lake at the Cerro Muriano base, “in principle it could be considered that the fateful result produced had its origin in the fact that the security measures used in order to correctly carry out the scheduled exercise did not meet the intended function.
To this end, it recalls that the proceedings in question were initially directed against Captain Ignacio Zúñiga Morillas, Lieutenant Jaime Tato Garrido and Sergeant Gustavo Álvarez Estupiñán, as possible criminal perpetrators of an alleged crime against the effectiveness in the service of article 77. of the Military Penal Code.
Omission of “very important aspects” in terms of security
According to the investigating judge, “in relation to the exercise to be carried out in an aquatic space at the base of Cerro Muriano, a type of artificial lake with an area of approximately 2,200 square meters, by Captain Zúñiga at the time of elevating the program to superiority of the instruction period in which the river crossing activity was included, no appreciation or assessment was made regarding very important aspects to carry out the exercise safely and correctly, such as those consistent with the point at which the to cross the lake and the length of the route; whether it was necessary to swim or not, to carry out the same – this is a very important point, since it appears from what has been done that for admission as a soldier in the Army, applicants are not required to pass any aquatic fluency test -, well, no. there was no prediction in this sense about the depth of the section to be covered; or if any means of flotation were going to be used by those involved in the exercise; or any of the security measures to be used in its execution.”
Furthermore, the investigating judge points out that “nothing was noticed in this regard either by the head of the Plana or by the colonel in charge of the Regiment at the time of carrying out the work of supervision and authorization of the exercise, as shown in the report of the Defense Staff and the report of the head of the La Reina Number Two Regiment, which includes the respective tasks of supervision and authorization of the exercise.”
In this way, according to the Military Court number 21, the maneuver was undertaken “without having the necessary security measures for its execution, an extreme that went unnoticed by both Captain Zúñiga at the time of its planning, and by his superiors at the time. prior to his execution, since there was no supervision in this regard either by Lieutenant Colonel José Luis Zanfaño Hidalgo or by Colonel Daniel Ángel Totón Méndez.”
Without “any supervision” by higher management
“Nor was there any supervision at the time of its execution (of the exercise), which was the responsibility of the head of the La Reina Regiment, Colonel Manuel Navarro González, who on December 15, 2023 relieved Colonel Totón in command, and must be assisted, by the head of the Command Plan assigned to the date of the exercise on December 21, 2023, who based on what was stated by Captain Zúñiga should have been the commander who on the aforementioned date was head of PLMM replacing Colonel Zanfaño,” the order states.
Thus, after Captain Zúñiga, Lieutenant Tato and Sergeant Álvarez Estupiñán appeared on March 22 as investigated before the Military Court number 21 of Seville; Said judicial instance detected, as stated in the order, possible “indications of criminal responsibility” regarding Colonels Tostón Méndez and Navarro González, as well as Lieutenant Colonel Zanfaño Hidalgo and the chief commander of the PLMM as of December 21, 2023. , all of them registered before the Central Military Court, which motivate the inhibition of the proceedings in favor of the Central Court.
“Based on the evidence collected, which reveals possible criminal conduct in soldiers who hold the position of lieutenant colonel, colonel and commander, as well as in response to the requests made by the private accusations in the jurisdiction process, it is “which prevents us from continuing to hear about this procedure, as long as it seems appropriate for them to be heard as investigated,” the court determined, agreeing in this resolution to inhibit it in favor of the Central Military Court.