Global IssuesARGENTINA: 20 Years for Manager in Tragic Club Blaze, but Band Acquitted
Nearly five years after a fire in a night club in the Argentine capital claimed the lives of 194 young people, a court sentenced the club manager and several city officials Wednesday. But the judges absolved the members of the band that was playing that night, touching off angry reactions from families of the victims waiting outside the courthouse.
In a unanimous ruling handed down a year after the trial opened in Buenos Aires against 15 defendants, a panel of three judges issued sentences of between 18 and 20 years for Omar Chabán, the former manager of the República Cromañón club; Carlos Díaz, a senior police official; and Diego Argañaraz, the manager of the rock band Callejeros, which was on stage the night of the fire, Dec. 30, 2004.
Several other members of the police, city safety officials and Chabán's assistant were also given sentences, of less than two years.
But to the indignation of many of the victims' families, the court acquitted the members of the band and other defendants, giving them the 'benefit of the doubt.'
The prosecutors had requested 15 years in prison for the musicians, who were accused of encouraging the use of fireworks in their shows, despite the dangers.
The fire was caused when a flare shot off by a fan during a Callejeros concert a common practice during their shows, even though fireworks are prohibited in closed spaces - hit the highly flammable foam on the club's ceiling.
Athough the dance club had wide emergency exits, they were chained shut to keep people from sneaking in without paying. Many of the young club goers collapsed of smoke inhalation or were trampled to death next to the doors as they desperately tried to find a way out.
Most of the victims died of inhalation of smoke and toxic chemicals that emanated from the foam on the ceiling. Besides the 194 people who were killed, nearly 1,500 were injured.
The disaster revealed negligence on the part of the club's owner, as well as corruption and a lack of municipal enforcement of safety standards. That night, the rock club was packed with more than 3,000 concert-goers, even though it had a license to hold a maximum of just over 1,000. At the start of the show, Chabán himself told the crowd that there were over 6,000 people there, and urged them not to use flares because of the danger of fire.
There was even a makeshift nursery set up in the women's bathroom where fans left their babies and small children, despite the fact that children are banned from nightclubs.
Wednesday's sentences will be appealed. During that process, which could take months, the defendants will still be out on bail. However, they are not allowed to go abroad and must report to the judges periodically.
In an interview with IPS, lawyer José Iglesias, whose 17-year-old son Pedro died in the blaze and who represents most of the families of the victims, said he was frustrated and angry. He described the judges' decision as 'scandalous,' and said that far from closing the wounds, it reopened them.
'Apparently, more years will have to go by and more deaths will have to occur for society and the authorities to bring about the changes that we are going to keep demanding,' he said, referring to the lack of safety standards in public spaces and the musicians' acquittal.
Raúl Buganem, whose son was killed in a 1993 fire in the Kheyvis dance club in which 17 adolescents died and 24 were injured, told IPS that at least in the Cromañón case 'there was a trial.' In the case of the Kheyvis tragedy, the statute of limitations ran out before anyone was found guilty.
There was silence in the courtroom while most of the sentence was read out. But when the acquittal of the band members was announced, relatives wearing t-shirts with photos of their kids started shouting at the judges and trading insults with fans of the band, who were cheering the verdict.
The family members said they felt 'provoked' by the fans, who were celebrating the acquittals by tossing confetti in the air.
Outside the heavily guarded courthouse, victims' relatives on one side and Callejeros fans on the other engaged in scuffles that sparked clashes with the police.
Some of the family members knocked over the metal barricades ringing the courthouse and tried to force their way into the building.
The police used water hoses against the crowd, and the demonstrators responded by throwing stones, before they started to disperse.
As the relatives came out of the courtroom, many were crying and shouting insults because the band members were let off.
The police officers were found guilty of accepting bribes from Chábán. And Argañaraz, who arranged the show with the club's manager, was sentenced as an accessory to the fire, which was aggravated by wrongful death.
The victims' families said it was inexplicable that the band's manager was sentenced to 18 years in prison but the musicians themselves were absolved.
Then Buenos Aires Mayor Aníbal Ibarra was impeached and removed from office in March 2006 over the tragic blaze.
Several Ibarra administration officials were sentenced Wednesday: Fabiana Fiszbin, the head of the city's safety inspectors, and her subordinates Ana María Fernández and Gustavo Torres, were given two years in prison for breach of duty.
The judges ruled that the safety officials should have responded with greater diligence to warnings from other public agencies regarding irregularities plaguing the management of the club, and should have carried out frequent inspections there.
© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service