“The accused superiors were fully aware that The means were insufficient and, even so, “They forced the civil guards to carry out a police intervention outside of their capabilities and attitudes.” This is stated in the complaint filed by the association of the Civil Guard JUCIL against the general chief of the Zone of the Civil Guard of Andalusia and the colonel chief of the Command of the Civil Guard of Cádiz, who are accused of a alleged crime of reckless homicide and crimes of serious injuries due to recklessness.
The lawsuit refers to the tragedy that occurred in Barbate on February 9, in which two civil guards lost their lives and several were seriously injured. According to the document, the police intervention in the Port of Barbate was carried out under extremely dangerous conditions and without adequate means. Some risks that the hierarchical superiors were aware of and, despite this, they ordered the intervention to be carried out.
At this point, they point out that the Groups of Specialists in Underwater Activities (GEAS) are not prepared for this type of police interventions and that the two components of the GAR that accompanied them as reinforcement, lacked the necessary means. Specifically, it refers to lack of helmetsa very significant fact, since The deceased officers suffered bruises to the head caused by the passage over them of the drug boat that ran over them. A terrible panorama to which we must add the inclement weather.
Several warnings due to lack of resources
JUCIL's complaint is based on the statements of the GEAS team leader. Thus, it is known that the sergeant who led the team received a call from the chief colonel of Cádiz in which he was informed that the chief general of the Andalusia Zone required the GEAS team to go to the port of Barbate. In that call the colonel is informed “that they cannot go out with the Civil Guard boat, since it is very small and There is a risk that they will be run over by drug boats.“.
A warning, according to the association, which was communicated to the superior on up to two occasions, given that it was not possible to carry out what was requested by the superiors now denounced, and it posed a risk to the lives of the agents. Furthermore, they point out that the Benemérita boat was an old piece of equipment, with inadequate measurements for the purpose entrusted to the team. “You no longer only have to look at the abysmal difference between the boatswhich was recorded to the superior who is now being reported, and the risk of death that existed, the ease with which they could be overtaken and cause tragic and irreparable damage (as happened), but also that the preparation of the agents was not in accordance with the intervention granted to them by their superiors,” the complaint emphasizes.
Furthermore, according to the document of the complaint filed in Barbate, although the agents had had some knowledge of this type of intervention, “they were assigned without means of protection. They were assigned to said intervention without helmet, without bulletproof protective vest, without long weapons, carrying a simple short weapon like the other agents. It was the GEAS who had to provide a helmet and neoprene for police action, a helmet that was of no use, given that the two deceased had fatal bruises on the head, as can be seen from the autopsies contained in the police report.”
Sentences of one to four years in prison
At this point, the document insists that all these circumstances – the poor quality of the media, the lack of preparation of the civil guards and the bad weather conditions – “were known by those now denounced”, who did not hesitate to impose their hierarchy to force agents to leave, without them being able to deny. Needless to say, “the fate of the agents was fatal, and could have been even worse,” they reproach.
And although the association of civil guards is aware that a case is already open in Court number 1 of Barbate for a possible crime of occupational risk prevention committed by those now denounced, considers “that not only has the commission of the same occurred, but that the denounced superiors were fully aware that the resources of the Civil Guard were insufficient and, even so, they forced the agents to go out and carry out a police intervention outside of their capabilities and aptitudes”. And they did it, the complaint continues, “without what was necessary, knowing the risk of deathbeing completely in favor of the intervention being carried out, regardless of the result.”
“Due to the facts presented, this party, as a provisional qualification, considers that we are faced with two crimes of homicide due to serious recklessness of article 142 of our Penal Code, as well as four crimes of serious injuries due to recklessness of article 152.1.2 of the Penal Code “JUCIL concludes. It should be noted that Article 142 punishes with sentences of one to four years in prison. cases of death due to recklessness. For all these reasons, this association requests that the corresponding preliminary proceedings be initiated to clarify the events that occurred on that fateful February 9 and that the responsibility of the hierarchical superiors in this event be investigated.