The Magistrate’s Court number 9 of Madrid files a case of great relevance
The Court of Inquiry number 9 of Madrid has taken the decision to file a case investigating the death of three users of a residence for the elderly in Pont de Vallecas during the peak of the covid pandemic. This resolution has been taken in the context of a complaint filed against the regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and two of her former councilors for a crime of reckless homicide. In addition, it has also been agreed on the provisional suspension of open actions regarding the director of the residence and the manager of the center for the elderly.
Details of the complaint and the judge’s decision
The complaint was filed against Díaz Ayuso, the then councilors Enrique López and Enrique Ruiz Escudero, the director of the Domus VI Albufera Residence, and the mercantile company Geriavi, S.A.O., manager of the said residence, for the crimes of reckless homicide, reckless injuries , omission of the duty of assistance and prevarication. Although the judge allowed the complaint to proceed only with regard to the director of the center and the merchant Geriavi, for three crimes of reckless homicide, the case has finally been filed.
In the decision, the judge argues that forensic reports indicate that, even if the patients had been referred to a hospital and confirmed to have COVID-19 earlier, the deaths could not have been prevented. This has been decisive for filing the case, since it is not possible to establish the avoidability of the result, an essential requirement to appreciate the criminal type of reckless homicide that was attributed to them.
Context and consequences of archiving
With this filing, there are now 23 closed procedures for the death of elderly people due to covid in public residences in the Community of Madrid, as the crime commission was not accredited for the referral protocols of patients to hospitals during the first wave of the pandemic
Despite the fact that no complaint has been successful, the Citizens’ Commission for the Truth in the Residences of Madrid concluded that in March and April 2020 there was an excess of mortality in the residences of the region, twice as much as in other areas of the region State, and estimated that if ‘discriminatory’ criteria had not been applied, 4,000 lives could have been saved. This Commission was set up in April 2023 at the request of relatives and those affected, alleging the ‘lack of interest and will’ of the political and judicial authorities to find out and report on what happened to the elderly confined in the Madrid residences at the beginning of the pandemic.
