The captain responsible for the training exercise in which two soldiers drowned in the artificial lake at the Cerro Muriano base, in Córdoba, ordered his subordinates “not to hold on to the rope” that served as a ‘life guide’. ‘”except in case of life or death.” This was stated today at a press conference by the lawyer Luis Romero, who represents the family of the deceased Sevillian soldier, Carlos León, a 24-year-old young man who perished alongside the Córdoba corporal Miguel Ángel Jiménez on December 21.
Romero has also announced that his office will present an appeal against the decision of the Investigating Court number 4 of Córdoba to recuse itself in favor of investigating the case by the Military Robe Court 21 of Seville since, and despite the fact that he assures that “in Justice will be done for both”, the military penal code does not contemplate the crime of eventual intentional homicide, a charge that the lawyer intends to impute to both the captain and the chain of command (colonel, lieutenant colonel, and the Brigadier General), leaving only the possibility of holding these charges responsible for two reckless homicides.
According to the story of the lawyer for León’s family, and based on the statements that the military witnesses of the fateful event have made before the Civil Guard, the ‘crossing of the river’ exercise was carried out without a risk plan, without the necessary security measures and, as Romero has stated, many more deaths could have occurred. “It was great negligence” on the part of the captain, he points out, “that endangered the lives of the soldiers” by carrying out an exercise in unfavorable conditions (cold, murky water, without the necessary lifeline, without doctors or ambulances on site or a boat that could help the soldiers and non-commissioned officers participating in it), especially taking into account that some of them carried overloads in their backpacks as punishment for incorrectly carrying out a previous exercise.
Romero has stressed that Carlos León’s backpack had 3.5 kilos of ballast in the form of a simulated mine, plus the 8 kg of a waterproof backpack to which we must add the weight of his uniform (boots, clothing and helmet) as well as the rifle he was carrying, conditions that inevitably caused him to sink into the lake. Furthermore, as the lawyer pointed out, the water was “almost frozen” and prevented the soldiers from moving. “This is like in war, there are risks,” the captain said according to witness statements when some of his subordinates asked him to postpone crossing the river given the conditions that were prevailing.
There were 15 soldiers who, at 9:00 a.m. on the morning of December 21, entered the water to carry out this instruction. Two died, two others had to be admitted to a hospital in Córdoba, and another was rescued unconscious by his companions near the shore and was able to be revived. In total, there were 75 soldiers who had to cross the lake in an exercise whose practice is common in the area, although at times such as spring or summer.
The captain’s instructions, as the lawyer explains, were clear: “do not hold on to the rope except in extreme cases of life or death”, if there are problems “kick while holding on to the backpacks” to “float” and “this is like in war, there are risks.” Thus the exercise began in a lake 3 meters deep, with a rope that acted as a guide attached to two trees, which was not tense and which had been arranged by two non-commissioned officers who have recognized, according to the lawyer’s story, that They had no training for it. The lifeline is a rope or steel line that crosses the area and to which soldiers, if necessary, can hold on with a harness until they are rescued. In this case there was a “guide” that sank when the soldiers turned to it.
On the other hand, as Luis Romero explained, in the middle of the chaos the captain ordered the rope to be released. “I would think that there would be a whip effect,” that is, that the soldiers clinging to it and who were sinking would reach the shore sooner, but that was not the case, he has detailed.
When the soldiers in the water began to ask for help, there were moments of disbelief, so the reaction was late, says the lawyer, who has indicated that only when notice was given that Corporal Jiménez was missing did the captain realize the severity of the situation. It was later when they realized that the Sevillian soldier was also missing.
However, there was little margin since “there was no risk plan.” “There were no floats, there was no boat, there were no medical personnel,” details Romero, who states that there were soldiers unrelated to the exercise who passed through the area of ??the first to jump into the water to help their companions. “The captain is the last one to jump into the water,” he explains, “and then he had to be treated.”
On the other hand, the victim’s family considers that these are not two reckless homicides (which can carry a sentence of 1 to 4 years in prison) but rather two possible intentional homicides (which could carry up to 10 years in prison), However, this last accusation would only be imputable if the case was handled by the Court of Instruction 4 of Córdoba and not the Military Court 21 of Seville, as it has become known today will happen.
“We are appearing as accusations in both,” explained Romero, “but we will appeal the decision of the Court of Córdoba” to recuse itself in favor of the Military Court.
At the moment, the family of Carlos León has filed a complaint against the captain of Cerro Muriano responsible for this exercise, and against the chain of command made up of the lieutenant colonel, the colonel and the brigadier general, in addition to imputing civil liability to the Ministry of Defense, although the law firm that represents them does not rule out including other lower positions, as the lawyers representing the family of Corporal Adamuz have done.
What lawyer Romero has been able to say about his strategy is that he will ask, once the captain declares before the judge, that some precautionary measures be adopted against him, requesting, among them, provisional detention.
