Policing in Brief; Spain: Malaga police cell blaze case re-opened:
01 March 2003
A Malaga tribunal has ordered the case concerning the fire in a police cell that resulted in the death of seven Moroccan migrants on 27 December 2002 (see Statewatch vol 13 no 1) be re-opened to determine whether any police officers or officials should face criminal charges, due to negligence, or due to inadequate fire safety measures. The ruling accepts an appeal by regional NGO Andalucia Acoge after the investigating magistrate dismissed the case on 17 February 2003 because the authors of the fire (two of the detainees) had died, and no criminal responsibility for police authorities was envisaged. José Luis Rodriguez, a lawyer for the relatives of two of the victims and Andalucía Acoge president, welcomed the decision as "an opportunity to ascertain the political responsibilities that exist and the alleged criminal irregularities that may be brought out by the investigation". On 6 February Interior Minister Angel Acebes told the Congress Justice and Home Affairs Commission that according to the Malaga fire service emergency fire facilities and procedures in the police station were "adequate", although he conceded that it may have been better to use available empty cells in the holding quarters rather than detaining 17 persons in a single 7 x 4.5 metre cell. Izquierda Unida MP José Luis Centella considered detaining the 17 prisoners, who were awaiting expulsion, in such a small cell "inhuman". Lawyers for the deceased argued that there is a difference between fire prevention facilities being "adequate", and adequate security measures being taken, because "no fire prevention system was used in the police station before the arrival of the firemen". El País 7.2.03, 5.4.03.