Judge requests 112 headquarters camera recordings in 'dana' case

The judge of Catarroja investigating the management of the 'dana' (flood) on October 29, 2024, has requested from the Department of Emergencies of the Generalitat the recordings from the cameras located in the hallways of the building in l'Eliana—the headquarters of 112—where the meeting of the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi) took place, the body that directed the emergency. The recordings should show «the entries and exits of the room» where the session was held, «both through its front and back doors», from 3:00 PM, when it was convened, until 11:59 PM of that fateful day. In the same order, dated this Wednesday, the judge also agreed to request from the Valencian Courts the responses given by the Emergency Prevention Coordinator, who has also testified as a witness in the proceedings, to parliamentary questions regarding the preservation of the images of the authorities' arrival at the Cecopi on that tragic day. In parallel, in a separate order, the magistrate has summoned the driver who was serving the then President of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, to testify as a witness and has requested the head of Presidential Security to identify the bodyguards assigned to him that day to summon them in the same capacity. Furthermore, the instructor has decided to take the testimony of four witnesses proposed by the popular accusation exercised by the FTAP-CGT union, including the regional secretary for Infrastructure and Transport of the Generalitat, Javier Sendra, who informed Mazón—during a call at 7:34 PM—about the serious problems they were having that afternoon at the Metrovalencia command post, near the Poyo ravine. The judge has also ordered to request that Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana identify the security guard injured on the day of the 'dana' to take his statement as an injured party. The judge justifies her decision to obtain the recordings from the 112 headquarters by the fact that in the decision-making process regarding the emergency, «the determination of the individuals who attended the Emergency Coordination Center of l'Eliana, as well as those who formed part of the Cecopi, acquires special importance.» In this regard, the judge notes that its formation «did not occur jointly, but rather various participants progressively joined throughout the afternoon and night of October 29, 2024.» Therefore, she considers it «pertinent» to join the recordings to the case, and their preservation «can only be justified by the relevance of what happened that day and the possible repercussions in a subsequent criminal procedure, if we consider the legal regime provided for in Organic Law 3/2018, of December 5, on the Protection of Personal Data and guarantee of digital rights.» In any case, she believes that the investigation into the 230 deaths and the injured «fully justifies» this evidence, «even more so if we consider that the individuals present in that location were aware of the possibility of being filmed inside the facilities of the Emergency Coordination Center, it is a public building, those who may appear are authorities and officials in the performance of their professional duties, and their privacy is not invaded».