Luis Romero, the lawyer representing the family of soldier Carlos León Rico, originally from El Viso del Alcor (Seville) who passed away on December 21 alongside Corporal Miguel Ángel Jiménez Andújar, from Adamuz (Cordoba), during a maneuver at the Guzmán base of the X Brigada El Bueno in Cerro Muriano; reported that Central Court number two has taken over the case, after the Military Court number 21 in Seville was inhibited.
According to this criminal lawyer and PhD in law who represents the family of the deceased soldier Carlos León Rico, Central Court Number Two agreed to take on the case after «finding indications of criminal responsibility because the facts were very serious and all responsibilities must be determined.» In addition to Captain Ignacio Zúñiga Morillas, Lieutenant Jaime Tato Garrido, and Sergeant Gustavo Álvarez Estupiñán have agreed to appear as suspects; 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 has summoned 42 witnesses and experts to testify via video conference on June 25, 26, and 27.
Since the events occurred, according to this lawyer, as the representative of the drowned soldier from El Viso at the Cerro Muriano base, he has requested «these charges and that of the brigadier general, in which we will continue to insist.» Subsequently, I reiterated it in several appeals and documents addressed to the Military Court of Seville.»
From now on, according to Luis Romero, as a private prosecution, he will insist on demanding an investigation of Brigadier General Ignacio Olazábal and dismissing the case against Sergeant Álvarez Estupiñán.
In the order from Military Court number 21 of Seville inhibiting the case to the Central Court, the said judicial tribunal points out that the actions taken regarding the death of soldier León Rico and Corporal Jiménez Andújar on December 21 during an exercise involving crossing an artificial lake at the Cerro Muriano base, «initially, it could be considered that the tragic result had its origin in the failure to comply with the safety measures necessary to properly carry out the planned exercise. function.»
In this regard, it recalls that the process was initially directed against Captain Ignacio Zúñiga Morillas, Lieutenant Jaime Tato Garrido, and Sergeant Gustavo Álvarez Estupiñán, as possible perpetrators of an alleged offense against service efficiency under article 77 of the Military Penal Code.
According to the investigating judge, «in relation to the exercise to be carried out in an aquatic space at the Cerro Muriano base, a kind of artificial lake with an approximate surface of 2,200 square meters, by Captain Zúñiga at the time of the planning. program to the superiors of the training period in which the river crossing activity was included, no assessment or evaluation was made regarding very important aspects to carry out the exercise safely and correctly, such as the point where the lake is crossed and the length of the route, whether swimming was necessary or not, walking the same, this is very important, because it is deduced from what has been done that to enter as a soldier in the Army, applicants are not required to pass any aquatic skills test – as the depth of the stretch to be crossed was not planned – or if any flotation device was going to be used by those involved in the exercise; or any safety measures to be used in its execution”.
Furthermore, the investigating judge points out that «nothing was observed in this regard either by the Chief of the General Staff or by the colonel in charge of the Regiment at the time of carrying out the supervision and authorization of the exercise, as evidenced in the report of the Defense Staff and the report of the commander of Regiment number two La Reina, which includes the respective supervision and authorization tasks of the exercise.»
Thus, according to Military Court number 21, the maneuver was carried out «without the necessary safety measures for its execution, an aspect that went unnoticed both for Captain Zúñiga at the time of planning and for his superiors at that time. before its execution, as there was no supervision in this regard either by Lieutenant Colonel José Luis Zanfaño Hidalgo or Colonel Daniel Ángel Totón Méndez”.
“In addition, there was no supervision at the time of its execution (the exercise), which was the responsibility of the commander of Regiment La Reina, Colonel Manuel Navarro González, who on December 15, 2023 took over command from Colonel Totón and must be assisted by the command Planning Officer assigned on 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 said date was the PLMM commander instead of Colonel Zanfaño,» the order states.
Thus, after Captain Zúñiga, Lieutenant Tato, and Sergeant Álvarez Estupiñán appeared on March 22 as suspects in Military Court number 21 of Seville; that judicial tribunal detected, as mentioned in the order, possible «indications of criminal responsibility» regarding Colonels Tostón Méndez and Navarro González, as well as Lieutenant Colonel Zanfaño Hidalgo and the PLMM commander on December 21, 2023. all were recorded in the Central Military Court, prompting the inhibition of the procedure in favor of the Central Court.
«Based on the evidence collected, which reveal possible criminal conduct by the military occupying the positions of lieutenant colonel, colonel, and commander, and in response to the requests made by the private prosecution in the jurisdictional process, it is what prevents us from continuing to hear this procedure, whenever it seems appropriate that they be heard as suspects,” the court established, agreeing in this ruling to inhibit it in favor of the Central Military Court.
