The collapse of the Cologne City Archives in 2009 shook nationwide.
Judgments are only issued shortly before the statute of limitations.
Now the Federal Court of Justice is overturning the acquittals of two construction managers.
The process has to be rolled out from scratch.
Karlsruhe / Cologne - everything back to the beginning - twelve years after the collapse of the Cologne city archive with two dead, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe fully conceded the acquittals of two construction managers. The judgments of the Cologne Regional Court of October 2018 should be overturned in all areas, another chamber now has to renegotiate, says the presiding judge Ulrich Franke and finds clear words. At the time, the regional court did not take into account the lack of coordination on the construction site, the lack of close-knit controls and the "accumulated number of incidents", he complains. "That is the legal error."
It is true that the regional court had found a breach of the two men’s duties of care.
However, it then wrongly concluded that this was not the cause of the disaster of March 3, 2009.
But that is exactly what has not been adequately checked.
"A new trial court may still be able to determine a breach of duty," says Franke.
The outcome is open, however.
In the end, there could also be a new acquittal for the site manager.
New witnesses will now be heard in Cologne, and experts will be invited.
Only the indictment, which will be read out, remains the same.
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Co-plaintiff Marvin Pagel, the now 18-year-old half-brother of one of the victims, does not initially know whether to laugh or cry.
“I'm not interested in atonement,” says the humble-looking young man.
“It is about clarifying what happened, why it happened and whether someone can be held responsible for it.” On the other hand, it will of course mean torture for his client if the whole process starts all over again, adds Pagel's lawyer the lower court, Bernhard Scholz.
The dramatic collapse occurred when workers left a large stone block in the excavation pit during construction work on a subway station in the immediate vicinity of the archive when it could not be removed. As a result, imperfections form in the concrete wall that surrounds the excavation. It gives way - around 5000 cubic meters of water and gravel pour in. A huge cavity is formed under the archive, which tips over to the front and carries away two adjoining residential buildings. The two victims, Pagel's 17-year-old half-brother and a 24-year-old local resident, are buried under the rubble and only recovered days later.
Years pass before there are indictments shortly before the statute of limitations and finally to trial in 2018. Among other things, the result: The two acquittals for the two site managers on the charge of negligent homicide through omission. On the other hand, the public prosecutor appealed to the BGH. During the trial in July, the Federal Prosecutor called the Cologne judgment “consistently flawed in law”. The BGH now sees it similarly.
To this day, the people who witnessed the collapse are traumatized.
Many lost their homes, all their belongings.
Countless documents are spilled.
The city of Cologne estimates the damage at 1.2 billion euros.
"Before the death of the two people, any damage fades," says BGH judge Franke.
Cologne now has a new city archive.
It was opened at the beginning of September.
The drama and trauma surrounding the old archive remain.
The new process will soon preoccupy the city again.
dpa
