He unanimous request for justice by the families of the workers Nicolás Francés and Mariano Spinedi and the teacher Mónica Jara, resounds three years after the explosion at School No. 144from Aguada San Roque. The wait for the oral trial, which has six defendants among builders and officials, enters the final stage. The hearings will begin on 4 and will last until August 16, in Neuquén capitalThere will be a march in the capital of Neuquén today.
“Hurts. “It hurts waiting for a resolution,” is the first thing Marcela Altube, Nicolás Francés’s wife, says. the gas fitter who died in the explosion along with Mariano Spinedi, as his assistant. It is June 29th again, but three years later and he is still waiting for justice – hopefully – to bring him some peace.
“Also It hurts the absence, the loss and the agony of having to wait for those responsible, who seem to have more rights than one, to pay.. We are the surviving victims. All of this hurts,” she explained. Three years ago, Marcela said goodbye to her husband with a quick kiss, a hug and a: “See you in the afternoon.” That did not happen: “He never came back and no one called to give explanations,” she told Diario RÍO NEGRO.
TBoth Frances and Spinedi died instantly. It was the afternoon of June 29, 2021, around 1:50 p.m. They were working on gas installations and checking if the heaters in the boarding school were working properly. They were with teacher Mónica Jara, but in the girls’ dormitory there was a deflagration and a fire. The men died instantly. The teacher managed to get out through a window and died 13 days later.
«One day I’m fine, another I fall, the next I get up again strong. Seeing my granddaughters (Monica’s daughters, 11 and 16 years old) not having their mother is very hard for me,” she said. Norma Barrera, the teacher’s mother.
For Norma and her family, as well as for the Francés and Spinedi families, the process has not been easy. The case with three fatalities and multiple defendants meant that it was declared complex, and the deadlines were extended until now. The trial will begin on August 4 in Neuquén, unlike what happened until this previous instance, whose hearings took place in Cutral Co, by jurisdiction.
Throughout all this time, Marcela indicated that without a doubt they had to cultivate patience. «Our loved ones left (three years ago) and what has been done? One wants to heal, but there are a lot of things. This is still latent, it’s like the circle is not closed. You have the feeling that the justice that these people deserve is not being done,” Marcela defined.
«Slow justice also hurts for those of us who survive»
For Marcela, the agony does not end. She chooses to graph her daily life in a simple way: “going around, waiting for third-party resolutions that exceed you.”
Since the judicial case began and with the hearings taking place, Marcela explained that although she understands that each of the accused has the right to legitimate defense, it pains her to hear her defenders who speak lightly about the victims.
She said that she has not had her husband for three years and that meant that her dreams, projects and life plans were cut short. However, she is very hopeful that the day of judgment will come and that the date will not be changed – again – so that those supposedly responsible “will take responsibility for their actions or inactions.”
«Justice, please and do not repeat more events of this nature. “Let justice be done for these three people who lost their lives, due to the inaction of people who care very little about the lives of others,” Altube remarked.
“I feel like I let my daughter down,” said Monica’s mother.
While preparing for the mobilization that will take place today in Neuquén with Monica’s family, friends and colleagues, from the San Martín monument to the Government House, Norma reflects that she feels that she disappointed her daughter.
“I feel like I let my daughter down. When the Cutral Co incident happened (with the dismissal of Luna and Cresatti) I left. Hearing the judge (of Guarantees) Mario Tommasi say that action cannot be taken against all those who do not fulfill their duties was something very strong for me,” recalled the teacher’s mother.
Both Fabio Luna, general director of the Rural Modality of the CPE, and Patricia Delia Cressatti, provincial director of Primary Level, were released from the case.
She compared the situation they face with that of the families of the explosion at the New American Oil (NAO) refinery in Plaza Huincul, which left three workers dead. “It’s like the girls from NAO say, without justice there is no peace. And well, I don’t have peace because there is no justice.”
He later said that he does not know what to expect because, in his opinion, everything has been said: “They did not fulfill their duties, there were (three) deaths due to their failure to do so. I do not know what more evidence the judges want, I do not know what they need,” he said.
Although she is awaiting trial, she admits she is disappointed and hopes for the outcome of the hearings: “I hope it turns out well, but I have my doubts.”
“We expect exemplary sentences,” said Marcelo Guagliardo, secretary general of ATEN
The general secretary of the Neuquén teachers’ union ATEN, Marcelo Guagliardo, said that they continue to insist that the Neuquén government work and guarantee safe schools, and that they protect education workers, children and people who attend the buildings.
In this context, she explained that as a first step they have to guarantee the right to education in the province. “There are painful precedents: Silvia Roggetti and Monica, in addition to the workers Nicolás and Mariano,” she added.
«We hope that the responsibilities of the officials who were in charge of supervising and executing a work will be determined without this representing any risk to anyone. Something that clearly did not happen,” he said when asked by this media.
“This is what we expect from the justice system, that there be exemplary sentences, and that the Public Works officials in particular know that they have the enormous responsibility of being the guarantors of that security and those learning and working conditions that the state must guarantee us,” he said.
For the union leader, he hopes that the link that could exist between: “corruption and the result of that work in Aguada San Roque” will be elucidated in the hearings. Not only the actions that led to the explosion, but, for Guagliardo, the “suspicion that this was tinged with acts of corruption.”
Guagliardo hopes that justice is profound in valuing the evidence that exists. «We expect exemplary sentences for those who are in the dock and for all those who are in charge of a task such as putting together a document, controlling its execution, supervising it and providing all the conditions that are needed to work without problems.
The head of the union that became a plaintiff in the case, recalled that in the course of the proceedings, this stage was reached with the six accused and not all of them. “Justice has been elusive in trying to condemn all of those responsible. Unfortunately, not all of them (of the initial accused) will be convicted, but those who are convicted do so with enormous responsibility,” he said.
He recalled that the officials and contractors were in charge of putting together the specifications, monitoring, supervising the work and delivering it in good condition: “this did not happen and thus we had this irreparable result which is the loss of the lives of Mónica and Nicolás and Mariano ».
Today at 11:30 the union called for a march to demand justice at the San Martín monument.
The axes of the public accusation
Chief prosecutor Gastón Liotard, representing the sole prosecutor’s office that is handling the case – together with the private prosecutors of the families and the teachers’ union ATEN – indicated that they are preparing for the two weeks of oral debate.
«We hope to be able to prove our theory of the case in front of the judges. This is on two axes: the explosion itself, a culpable havoc aggravated by the purely technical issues that occurred and that were not foreseen as security; and on the other hand, the apathy and inefficiency of the State when it comes to controlling,” Liotard responded to Diario RÍO NEGRO’s query.
The chief prosecutor explained that, in this case, there is a concatenation of responsibilities. “In our opinion, this goes hand in hand with corruption, laziness, disorganization and lack of control that ended in an explosion with three fatalities.”
Liotard recalled that the six people who are going to trial are those whom the prosecution considered to be co-authors of aggravated negligent destruction, in addition to crimes against the public administration.
«It is a complex cause and that causes all deadlines to double“Naturally, this makes the process long. There are three accusers, including the prosecution and the plaintiffs, representing different accusations and several defendants who have their own defense,” he said.
Last week there was a hearing on evidentiary agreements and 11 more agreements were added. This allows the parties to reach agreements and reduce the number of witnesses, which will speed up the process, although it will still be lengthy.
The accused who came to the trial stage are: the technical representative, architect Diego Patricio Bulgheroni; Héctor Eduardo Villanueva Montalbán, managing partner of Arte Construcciones; Sergio Percat, construction inspector; Raúl Alfredo Capdevilla, provincial director of Contracted Works of the Public Works Secretariat; Carlos Alfredo Córdoba, director of Contracted Works under the Ministry of Public Works; and Roberto Vicente Deza, Undersecretary of Public Works.
As for the master builder, Eduardo Afione, he will be able to access the suspension of the trial on probation. “He was accused of crimes against the public administration because he was not a civil servant, but a builder, who was listed in our case, irregularly,” explained Liotard. Afione requested the suspension of the trial on probation, and the accusers opposed it. The judge of guarantees, Mario Tommasi, ruled in their favor.
However, An appeals court ruled in favor of Afione. The accusers filed an extraordinary presentation before the Superior Court of Justice that supported the accused. There is now an appeal before the Supreme Court of Justice.
The hearings will take place in the Judicial City of Neuquén capital from August 4 to 16 to facilitate the development of space, which will allow for the accommodation of not only the families of the victims, but also the accused, their defense attorneys and witnesses, the vast majority of whom are from the capital of Neuquén.
The judges Lisandro Federico Fidel Borgonovo, Diego Fernando Chavarría Ruiz and Ignacio Pombo will make up the court who will carry out the trial.
