Carrió, Sanz still dissatisfied with Once train crash ruling

Opposition lawmakers reacted yesterday to the appeals court decision to charge former transport secretaries Juan Pablo Schiavi and Ricardo Jaime with more serious crimes, which may be punishable with longer prison terms, in the case probing the Once train crash in February, 2012.

Civic Coalition Deputy Elisa Ca-rrió said yesterday she will submit a proposal in Congress tomorrow requesting the impeachment of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Federal Planning Minister Julio De Vido so that they face the same charges as the former transport secretaries for the accident which led to the death of 51 people with over 700 injured.

The former Kirchnerite ministers were charged with major damage and embezzlement, which may be punished with up to 11 years in prison.

“The ruling issued by the court yesterday (for Friday) convinced me that the crimes which Schiavi and Jaime are being accused of can also be applied to Julio De Vido and Cristina Kirchner,” Carrió stated in a press release. She alleged that the President “could not have been unaware of the conspiracy to commit crimes which her husband (late former president Néstor Kirchner) headed with these people, which she probably maintained throughout her administrations.” Which is why Carrió believes both top-ranking officials should be impeached for the same crimes.

In addition, Radical Senator Ernesto Sanz considered the court ruling as “insufficient,” arguing the latest ruling favoured Claudio and Mario Cirigliano, owners of the Sarmiento line’s former concession company Trains of Buenos Aires (TBA), because they are no longer charged with “conspiracy to commit crimes.”

According to Sanz, “as long as the justice system does not dare charging suspects with conspiracy to commit crimes, then rulings such as the one over the Once train crash will be insufficient.”

According to the 62-page ruling issued on Friday by the Second Courtroom of the Appeals Court, the tragedy last February 22 was caused by a succession of events which happened because of the negligence of the driver and a train that was in bad shape. The Cirigliano brothers were charged with major damage and embezzlement, the same as Schiavi and Jaime.

Nonetheless, Paolo Menghini Rey, the father of Lucas Menghini Rey, the last victim to be found inside the train wreckage, stated yesterday that the relatives of the victims were “very satisfied” with the court ruling, while at the same time he criticized Fernández de Kirchner for failing to mention the tragic accident when announcing investments for the Sarmiento and Mitre lines on Thursday. Menghini added that they “have had faith in the judiciary since day one.”

Herald with DyN