Judge Orders Line 12’s Former Officials to Face Trial

After more than a year following the Metro System’s Line 12 collapse, a judge ordered that eight former public officials are to face trial, as they were accused of being responsible for the disaster that caused the death of 26 and injured dozens.

Judge José Palacios instructed to start the legal process against the officials, who were involved in the construction, design and safety of Line 12 during Marcelo Ebrard’s term as Mayor of Mexico City. Those involved will be charged with manslaughter, injuries and damage to property. The hearing will continue to determine precautionary measures and to set a deadline for complementary investigations. 

The former officials implicated are Enrique Horcasitas, former Director, the Metro Project, Juan Giral, former Director of Civil Works Design, Moisés Ponce, former Director of Civil Work Construction, Enrique Díaz, former Deputy Director of Engineering and Project Design for Civil Works, Juan Ramos, former Deputy Director of Impact, the Ministry of Public Work, Fernando Ordaz, former Supervisor of Civil Works at the elevated section of Line 12, Fernando Lalana, former Deputy Director of Engineering and the Metro Project and Ricardo Pérez, former Co-Responsible for Security. 

The hearing of Héctor Rosas, former Director of Civil Work “C” and Guillermo Alcázar, former Director of Construction Works for Line 12 were postponed until August 17, 2022, after both Rosas and Alcázar tested positive for COVID-19. All former officials will remain in freedom during the procedures.

According to Cristopher Estupiñán, the legal counsel for the victims of the collapse, Horcasitas, Ponce and Giral declared that their cases amount to political persecution. The ex-officials asked to review the contract for the line’s development, which forbade the modification of projects by Metro Project's officers. 

Teófilo Benítez, the legal representative for 12 of victims of the incident stated that during the investigations, he will ask to reformulate the charges to include deceit, arguing that if the officials knew the conditions of the line, they were aware the potential consequences. “If the line was constructed poorly, they had 14 years to realize the state the line was in and neglected to give it maintenance,” Benítez said. 

In March 2022, MBN reported that the FGJ requested to file formal charges against 10 former government officials allegedly involved in the case. At that time, the affected families demanded justice and stated that no reparation agreement was reached.