The Oral Criminal and Correctional Court No. 7 of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires rejection This Thursday a series of claims of nullity and prescription that the defenses carried out in the context of the trial for the collapse inside the Beara bowling alley, which occurred in September 2010.
The collapse occurred at 3:50 a.m. on September 10, 2010, a few minutes after the Ráfaga group finished a recital, when the precarious structure of the mezzanine gave way on the deceased Ariana Beatriz Lizarriaga (21) and Paula Leticia Provedo (20) and left injured more than 50 people.
Prosecutor Oscar Ciruzzi, in charge of the General Prosecutor’s Office No. 7 before the Oral Criminal and Correctional Courts, intervenes in the debate, who had ruled last Monday, on the opening day, against all the arguments of the defenses.
Among the 17 involved in the trial are those responsible for the bowling alley and the premises next door, former officials of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires who had to control the state of the place and police officers who are accused of collecting bribes.. The investigation of the case was carried out by the prosecutor Andrés Madrea.
At the end of the hearing this Monday, the defenses stated a series of preliminary questions that included requests for dismissals, annulments of the request for elevation to trial of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) and claims of inaction by prescription by Vanesa Ileana Berkowski, former director of Supervision and Control of the City Government, who currently works within the structure of the Buenos Aires government.
At that time, the prosecutor Ciruzzi explained that the then official, by continuing within the administrative scaffolding – even with less responsibility – is affected by the interruption of the prescription, established in situations where the accused are still under the public orbit.
Along these lines, the judges Alejandro Noceti Achaval, Gabriel Vega and Gustavo Alterini They recalled that article 67 of the Penal Code establishes that the statute of limitations is suspended “in cases of crimes committed in the exercise of public office, for all those who have participated, while any of them is holding a public office.”
In response to another of the proposals, and as the prosecution had considered, they remarked that it is not appropriate to dictate any dismissal at this time.
“The debate is the place where the evidence is going to be analyzed: during the trial is where we can assess whether there are sufficient elements to accuse or convict”, they pointed out.
The magistrates considered that within the request for trial by the MPF, the object of the debate is “perfectly delimited” and that all the accused know what facts they must defend themselves against.
They also argued that the statute of limitations for the case has not yet passed, contrary to the claims of the defense of one of those involved.
Buenos Aires official denied having asked for bribes for authorization
The former director of Special Authorizations of the City Government, Pablo Saikauskascharged in the Beara bowling alley collapse trial, denied this Wednesday before a court that have been paid bribes to enable the local .
“I have a clear conscience and I can say what I say: no one approached me asking me to do or stop doing in any fileSaikauskas said, adding under oath that “it was a normal process.”
For the death of the young women, which occurred on September 10, 2010, the former Buenos Aires official is accused of “culpable homicide aggravated by the number of victims in ideal competition with negligent and minor injuries and passive bribery in real competition.”
“I verified the documentation, the technical aspects have to ask the specialists,” said Saikauskas during the second hearing of the trial held on Wednesday.
the accused denied that the technical verifications have alerted for irregularities and stated that it was for this reason that on August 6, 2009 he signed the authorization for Beara.
“No controller communicated anything to us,” Saikauskas stressed, later pointing out that the verifications were made “by specialists” who “elected the owner and the City Government.”
When the president of the court, Alejandro Noceti Achavalasked Saikauskas if he had anything else to add to his statement, he took out a sheet and read: “The truth is that what happened was a mezzanine falling, because it was in poor condition or poorly built, or it collapsed due to excess of weight, all these questions exceeded me in my participation in the habilitation”.
“The truth is that what happened is a fall from a mezzanine, because it was in poor condition or poorly built, or it collapsed due to excess weight, all these issues exceeded my participation in the fitting out.”Pablo Saikauskas
Those responsible for Beara, Juan Carlos Yun, Agustin Dobrila and Iván Fliess, offered a payment of five million pesos to be distributed among the relatives of Ariana and Paula, and one million pesos for the injured.
At that hearing, Noceti Achával asked the relatives their opinion on the possible agreement, to which Paula’s mother, Alicia Tagliaferro, said that “the money they are offering us is stained with blood: everyone has a life, the only ones who do not They have it are Leticia and Ariana”.
After hearing the parties, the court unanimously rejected the request for probation, referring to article 353 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which establishes that once the date of an oral trial has been set, “no recourse can prevent the process from being carried out.”
In addition to Saikauskas, the former head of the General Directorate of Qualifications and Permits, Martín Farrell, and the former head of the Recreation Department, Norberto Cassano.
The former director of Supervision and Control of the City Government, Vanesa Berkowski, also arrives at this trial charged with the crime of “failure to comply with the duties of a public official.”
Federal Police commissioner Rodolfo Cabezas and members of the force Gustavo Flaminio, Luis Acosta and Julio González are accused of the same crimes.
