Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra has denied the defense request from Salomé Pradas to obtain Pilar Bernabé's communications from October 29, 2024. Instead, she opens the door to requesting Miguel Polo's call records. Ruth Merino testified she learned of the tragedy via television.
The investigating judge in the DANA case rejected on Wednesday the defense request from former regional minister Salomé Pradas for government delegate Pilar Bernabé to provide her communications from the day of the disaster. The magistrate argued that Bernabé appeared as a witness and that sharing personal data is voluntary in a case of reckless homicide.
Instead, the ruling opens the way to request call records directly from the president of the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation, Miguel Polo. Polo had already voluntarily submitted that information to the Valencian Corts commission.
Ruth Merino, spokesperson for Carlos Mazón's government during the DANA, told the judge she learned of the tragedy's scale and the CECOPI meeting only after arriving home and turning on the television on the evening of October 29, 2024. She stated the Consell meeting that morning took no measures on the flood.
