Overview
- A court-ordered careo is being held today at the Juzgado de Catarroja to confront Salomé Pradas and José Manuel Cuenca over their differing versions of WhatsApp exchanges from the afternoon of October 29, 2024.
- Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra authorized the rare evidentiary step under Article 455 of Spain’s criminal procedure code, citing its exceptional use and guidance from the Valencia Provincial Court to clarify Cecopi deliberations.
- The inquiry focuses on whether messages relayed to the then–justice and interior minister influenced emergency decisions and whether President Carlos Mazón gave instructions, including questions raised about confinement and any possible delay to Es Alert warnings.
- Reported messages include “Salo, de confinar nada, por favor” and advice that confinement would require a state of alarm, as well as claims that Pradas was told not to disturb Mazón, which Cuenca has characterized as taken out of context.
- Victims’ associations representing families of the 230 fatalities have called a 9:00 a.m. gathering outside the court, while Pradas attends as an investigated party with counsel and Cuenca appears as a witness obliged to tell the truth without legal representation.