Cerro Muriano: the judge sees signs of crime in the dome of the base where the soldiers died

The deaths of the two soldiers at the military base Muriano Hill During some maneuvers under the direction of Captain Ignacio Zúñiga, they will be investigated in the Central Military Court.

It will be this way after the head of the Number Military Court has seen signs of crime in the leadership of the regiment of the Córdoba base. The Seville magistrate has responded to the request of the military prosecutor regarding the possibility of investigating higher commanders, whose jurisdiction should fall to the Central Military Court based in Madrid, as EL MUNDO reported.

According to the judge’s order, to which this newspaper has had access, from the proceedings so far, in addition to the three commanders investigated, there may be “criminal liability for third parties”, in two colonels, a lieutenant colonel and a commander, all of them. “certified” personnel over whom the Madrid court is competent.

Specifically, the judge considers that they could have incurred a “breach of the guarantor duty” in terms of their function of “supervising, authorizing and executing what was programmed”, in reference to the exercises in which the two soldiers died.

For all these reasons, the judge of the Military Court of Seville has agreed to “inhibit” the investigation in favor of the Central Military Court, a decision against which an appeal can be made within a period of five days.

On April 11, Captain Zúñiga was removed from his duties, four months after the tragedy. It was decreed termination in Zúñiga destination after the request to Minister Margarita Robles by the relatives of the deceased soldiers. As EL MUNDO published, the captain continued at the base carrying out administrative tasks and, according to witnesses, he was present at events and flag-raising.

Last March, the lawyers of the two deceased soldiers asked the Military Robe court of Seville and the Ministry of Defense to investigate the current situation of the person responsible for the exercise within the base.

Specifically, the lawyer Francisco Pérez Romero He expressed in a document his doubts about whether the Army was complying with Defense orders because, as stated in his writing, Zúñiga could be directing maneuvers in which direct witnesses of the event participated and participating in the day-to-day life of the military base. According to reports, the captain participates every morning, in uniform, in the raising of the flag.

«As this part is aware that the colonel in chief of the Regiment consents to the participation of Captain Zúñiga in the daily formations, we are interested in initiating an investigation against the aforementioned colonel in chief of the Regiment, since, having knowledge of the unfortunate events that occurred in the Cerro Muriano Base, and being aware that the captain, lieutenant and sergeant could be presumed responsible for illegal acts, he consents to the participation of the accused, or at least the captain, in the daily training (uniform).”

As proof of his concern, the lawyer provided a screenshot of a WhatsApp group that reflected the indignation of many soldiers. The group was talking about an event that same morning in the central patio of the base in which they located the captain. “You look at the regiment and you see that Captain Zúñiga is preparing to form and you think it is a bad joke in very bad taste,” began the text written by one of the participants in the WhatsApp group named Citizens in uniform. He then added: «A bad feeling begins to tell you that what you are going to feel in this formation will be a scandalous military farce, you look again and you see that it is really him (…) what the hell is the murderer doing here? ».

Now, according to the document to which this newspaper has had access, the Army has separated him and he has been placed on active duty status “pending destination assignment.”

In the proceedings there is a key statement in court: that of another captain, as a witness, on March 22. This professional carried out the same exercise in 2019 and 2021 but with security measures, unlike what happened on December 21 under the orders of Captain Zúñiga.

The captain of the La Reina 2 Infantry Regiment, which carried out the same water crossing exercise in 2021 as the one that caused the death of two soldiers in Cerro Muriano (Córdoba) last December under the orders of Captain Ignacio Zúñiga, left It was clear to the judge that the maneuver was dangerous and that the water should not be crossed if there were no safety measures.

This command decided, according to the summary to which EL MUNDO has had access, to carry out these maneuvers in a lateral area of ​​the reservoir because there was no instruction manual for this type of exercise and because, prior to these maneuvers, it requested reinforcements that was rejected, which led him to change plans.

In addition, this captain carried out another exercise on the Cerro Muriano lake in 2019 and also decided that the soldiers would not enter the lagoon. He did it in an area where he could stand at all times, and not in the deep part, as happened on December 21.

During the passage carried out under his supervision in 2019, the maneuver was carried out in pairs, with aquatic means and a diver for each pair providing support. The line was a guide and its fundamental function was that if necessary, it could be pulled to help push oneself out of the water.

According to the summary, Captain Ignacio Zúñiga wanted at all costs for the Guzmán X El Bueno platoon to cross the Cerro Muriano lake, in Córdoba, on the morning of December 21. He didn’t even stop him from the failed trial he did before starting the exercise; a test that, according to the testimonies incorporated into the summary to which EL MUNDO has had access, showed the dangerousness of the maneuver. A soldier almost drowned, a prelude to what would happen minutes later.

The stories of soldiers and senior commanders confirm how Zúñiga – accused along with Lieutenant Jaime Tato Garrido and Sergeant Gustavo Álvarez Estupiñán for the death of two soldiers that day – did not calculate the scope of his orders, went so far as to ridicule a soldier and showed ” “carelessness” in the first stages of chaos in the lagoon.

“The captain from the shore told a subordinate, responsible for one of the groups: ‘One of you is drowning over there, another over there’ but he had no intention of going into the water,'” one of the soldiers recalls to the researchers.

Zúñiga, the person most responsible for that exercise, chose three men to demonstrate how it would be carried out. He ordered them to enter the lagoon but they could only go halfway. They all had difficulties but one of them was on the verge of not returning to shore “because he was practically drowning.” When he was about to reach her, his rifle slipped. Far from softening, Zúñiga recovered the weapon from the water and scolded him, as recorded in the statement of one of the soldiers.

“He hits him on the head and says: ‘You owe me your life for having found your rifle.'” As punishment, he separated him from the group and left him out of the maneuver that moments later would cost the lives of the soldiers Carlos León and Miguel Ángel Jiménez.

At 09:00 in the morning, the platoon was ready. The captain warned them that they should only hold on to the rope – the lifeline – that ran from one shore to the other “in case of real danger and extreme urgency.” The rope – a fundamental element for the military in case of having problems in the water – had serious deficiencies, according to the account of senior officers present there. “It was not made of steel, the soldiers were not anchored to it with a harness, as they should, and it was not rigid either.” That was when the nightmare began in Cerro Muriano.

«We were not in order, they brought everyone in at the same time. A situation impossible to control. The first companions who entered went little by little, having a hard time advancing (…) it was clear that most of them were having a hard time staying afloat. They ask for help and assistance. A real lack of control,” says another of the soldiers interviewed by the researchers.

The worst, however, was yet to come. “His heads went in and out of the water to try to survive,” remembers one of the soldiers who was waiting his turn on the shore to enter the lagoon. «The companions had a hard time staying afloat, they asked for help, that became a real lack of control, their heads went in and out of the water to try to survive. There were 15 companions at that time. “I visually verified how one of the heads that entered did not come out again.”

Captain Zúñiga’s attitude, according to those interviewed, was one of “zero concern” despite the fact that “that was a chaos of shouting and splashing.” “The backpack was no use for flotation because it was already soaked and if we leaned on it, it would sink.” There is a particularly harsh testimony. Another aspect that the military highlights throughout the actions is the absence of medical vehicles to deal with a possible setback. “There were no ambulances or anyone with knowledge who could help.”

In fact, the summary includes several calls to the emergency services asking for help and also how the firefighters try to coordinate to be able to access and act in Cerro Muriano. The absence of security measures to ensure the exercise meant that the Army had to seek help in the civilian sphere to try to save the soldiers who ultimately drowned.

«There were not enough security measures. We do not carry out the exercise with the appropriate means. The water was practically frozen, excessively cold. When you entered the water, your voice was paralyzed by the cold,” another of the soldiers recalls in his statement.

---