Judge Suggests Mazón Lied in Congress About Timing of Fatalities

Judge investigating the criminal case regarding the dana has requested, at the behest of the prosecution by the Associació Víctimes de la Dana 29 d'Octubre 2024, the complete recordings of the appearances of the President of the Generalitat in the investigation committees in Les Corts Valencianes and the Congress of Deputies. This is a measure that Podemos also requested on Tuesday.

This past Monday, the president answered questions from various parliamentary groups for nearly four hours. He mainly provided new information on three aspects. Firstly, the escorts. They were present upon arrival at Ventorro, but not upon departure. Secondly, the reason for not answering calls from Councillor Pradas during the worst moment of the tragedy. Regarding the first, he said he might have had his phone in his backpack. Regarding the second, he suggested he was speaking with other people.

The judge outlines the reasons for wanting to incorporate this documentation. "In the appearance before the Congress committee, various assertions are made that do not correspond with the content of the investigation," she notes. Firstly, she highlights that cancelled calls, where the receiver does not accept them, are not the same as missed calls. She recalls that the list provided by Councillor Pradas explicitly stated they were cancelled. Three communications at 16:29, 19:10, and 19:36 hours.

The magistrate recalls the "existence of information about the very serious situation, weather forecasts, calls to 112 (some like the well-known case of Francisca, whose son reported that his family was at risk of drowning, resulting in the death of her father and two brothers), warnings from the CHJ or calls to the teleassistance service, from relatives and users who died."

Moreover, she believes he lied about when Mazón explained he became aware of the first fatalities, which was around half-past five in the morning. "It is difficult to establish this from the early hours of October 30, both due to the president's own public statements during his appearance broadcast by A PUNT at 00:35 h, and also due to earlier elements in time that are perfectly documented."

In this regard, she emphasizes that Emergencies requested the mobilisation of the UME to perform its functions across the entire province of Valencia, and it was expressly stated that there were already fatalities. This was processed at 20:33 hours. Additionally, in the documentation sent to the court by Emergencies, it was communicated that at 00:37 hours on October 30, the activation of the multiple victims protocol was already requested.

The magistrate reminds that the president was obliged to tell the truth. The Penal Code typifies the crime of false testimony, and therefore it has a clearly different relevance to statements that may be made in a parliamentary setting outside a commission, or through public declarations or interviews.

Furthermore, she recalls that the current acting president did not make use of the ability to voluntarily testify in court, a possibility that would have exempted him from appearing in the aforementioned commission. The President of the Generalitat has not made use of this ability.

Similarly, she recalls that during the appearance, he spoke about decision-making within the CECOPI (he distanced himself) or the sending of the Es Alert message at 20:11 hours.