Line 12: why there are still no defendants and 4 other questions one year after the Mexico City Metro accident

“If we talk about the administration of justice after a year, progress is really nil”.

Cristopher Estupiñán, lawyer for a group of victims of the Mexico City subway accident, which marks one year on Tuesday, harshly criticizes the almost non-existent progress seen in court to judge those allegedly responsible for the tragedy so far.

Indeed, they have already passed months since a section of the underground collapsed and caused the death of 26 people and left dozens of wounded in a line, the 12 , which presented innumerable failures in its operation since its inauguration, less than a decade before.

The prosecutor of Justice of the capital, Ernestina Godoy, confirmed this Monday that an exhaustive The investigation determined that the accident was due to “several errors in its construction” since the design “had deficiencies that put the long-term structural stability of the work at risk.”

However, and despite the fact that most of the victims have reached an agreement for financial compensation with one of the construction companies, the advances to determine possible responsibilities among the officials who gave the green light to that work are almost non-existent.

This is one of the several questions that persist a year later about this process in which the victims continue to demand justice and that both the authorities and the rest of the companies involved in the construction of the so-called “golden line”, assume your responsibility.

1 . Why are there still no official charges?

In October, the Prosecutor’s Office in the capital announced the open investigation of eight former officials related to the work on the affected section and the legal representatives of two companies, including the former director of the Metro Project, Enrique Horcasitas.

Since then , up to three times hearings have been scheduled to charge these ten people formally for the probable commission of the crimes of homicide, injuries and negligent damage. However, none of them could be carried out.

On one occasion, because the legal representatives of the victims demanded to know the reparation agreement reached between the government and the subway builders. Two other times -the last one, this same Monday- because one of those investigated reported sick.

According to Estupiñán, lawyer of 14 victims among the injured and relatives of the deceased, “the judge could have resolved that the hearing be held with respect to the rest of those investigated present, but he decided to defer it.”

“It’s a joke. There is not even a formal accused after a year. The families are totally disappointed, it is a mockery of their memory and their tragedy”, he criticizes in an interview with BBC Mundo.

Gabriel Regino, who represents several of those investigated, considered that the postponements in the hearings are due to the “haste” with which the Prosecutor’s Office has tried to carry out the accusations and maintained that the lack of maintenance was what caused the accident, for which he demanded that those responsible for the maintenance of the metro since its inauguration be summoned to appear.

Line Crash 12: the controversial story of the subway line that collapsed and caused dozens of deaths and injuries

two. What do the authorities respond?

Prosecutor Godoy defended this Monday that “at no time has there been impunity” towards those allegedly responsible.

“Traditionally, it is thought that justice consists only in prison for those who should be punished (…). For there to be justice, sanctions are required, yes, but above all it is necessary to repair the damage and offer truth to society”, he said in a message posted on social networks.

Message to the media from the Prosecutor, Ernestina Godoy Ramos, reparation agreements L https://t.co/nzO1ZUpFiX

— CDMX Prosecutor’s Office (@FiscaliaCDMX ) May 2, 683

Thus, the official highlighted in Instead, the signing of agreements in the form of compensation reached with one of the construction companies. “Reparation of damage is synonymous with justice”, he emphasized.

Although he clarified that “there is no amount that can repair the loss of a loved one”, he described the agreement as something “historic” and unprecedented to “completely attend to the victims and their families and that they can, as far as possible and desirable, return to their daily life”.

The head of government of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, also defended the validity of these agreements reached with the builders.

“Yes, it is justice. It is a justice where there are no people in jail, there is not a very long process of protection that can take years, but what is established is, yes the victim agrees with a restorative justice, we proceed towards that”, he defended this Monday.

3. What financial compensation agreements have been reached?

The reparation agreements with the line builders were reached so far between 90% of victims and Grupo Carso, owned by billionaire Carlos Slim, in exchange for those affected desisting from future legal proceedings against them .

The treatment is confidential. Lawyer Estupiñán confirms that, after weeks of negotiations, the compensation achieved for his clients was up to 250% higher than those initially proposed after attending to the particular characteristics of each victim.

Despite signing the agreement, the company Carso did not recognize be at fault in the accident. “It does not imply, nor should it be interpreted, considered or held, as an acknowledgment of any responsibility,” reads a document of the agreement to which the newspaper El País had access.

Against those who do continue to be denounced by the victims, it is against the rest of the companies that built the line: CAF, Alstom, and Ingenieros Civiles y Asociados ( ICA), which participates in emblematic projects of the government of the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, such as the construction of the Mayan Train or the Dos Bocas refinery.

Thus, the law firm of Estupiñán filed a civil lawsuit against the three firms before the Prosecutor’s Office of the Mexican capital and also in the Supreme Court of the state of New York.

“The families do not want a private official to end up behind bars, they want companies to assume their responsibility and recognize their negligence . The legal battle continues”, clarifies the lawyer.

Four. What are the victims looking for?

Only 12 of the 124 victims, including the injured and relatives of the deceased, did not accept until now the reparation agreement.

“They do not want money, but justice and the guarantee of non-repetition”, said their lawyer, Teófilo Benítez, in an interview with Milenio TV.

Many of the other victims, such as Remigio Gayosso, hope that this process – which has barely started – will come to an end soon. “We want to end this and reach an agreement [con las otras empresas] as soon as possible,” he tells BBC Mundo.

This man from 42 years old and father of two girls was seriously injured with broken arms and legs while returning home on the subway from his job as a pizza vendor. After several operations, he defines his state of health “at 42%”, but says that he still could not go back to work due to the pain and therapies that he still has to to follow.

Gayosso points both to the officials who were in charge of the work and to the construction companies as responsible for what happened. “Among them they throw their little ball and we are disappointed that the guilty do not appear,” he says.

Asked if he thinks it more feasible to reach other compensation agreements before the alleged perpetrators are punished, he acknowledges that “some victims need financial support a lot because they are not going to be able to work moreover, his life changed radically after the accident”, although he believes that those who lost a family member “will not settle for just compensation”.

“We are fighting for justice for those who lost family members, those who lost their lives. We will fight until the last consequences, until justice is done”, he concludes.

5. How will the process continue?

The hearing scheduled for this Monday in which the ten under investigation were going to be formally charged was postponed until June 6, although the lawyer Estupiñán does not rule out that another reason could be alleged by the indicated that leads to a new delay.

As to whether the number of those investigated could be increased during the process, the lawyer assures that “yes, there is a possibility, and that is how it should be.” However, “we have requested the Public Ministry to expand the investigation regarding the companies responsible, but there does not seem to be a willingness to do so,” he declares.

Many voices demanded to act against the current Mexican Foreign Secretary, Marcelo Ebrard

, who was mayor of the capital when the line was inaugurated a few weeks after he left office. But the foreign minister denied any responsibility.

“I think it is very difficult for the head of government to supervise this personally, for that a very large body was created called the Metro Project that had technical and financial autonomy ( …). I did my duty at that time, I did what I had to do, ”he assured last October.

Meanwhile, what is going ahead are the repair works of the collapsed section of the metro. As part of the agreement between Grupo Carso and the government of Mexico City, the company is working on “the reconstruction and reinforcement” of the elevated section that collapsed, said prosecutor Godoy.

The capital authorities estimate that it can resume its activities next month of d December. Many of the victims, however, advocate that the line be torn down entirely and rebuilt from scratch to avoid shadowing any of the failures that dogged this infrastructure from its origin.

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