GTAC PRESIDENT WILL BE TRIED IN SPAIN (YIPEEE!)

[hue]

http://www.stellareport.com/

CHARGED WITH ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES RELATED TO POLLUTION OF AN AQUIFER


According to Spanish sources, Prosecutor Yolanda Ortiz has filed an "escrito de calificacion," against GTAC President Bill Williams in a court in Seville, Spain. A Spanish synonym for the filed document is "acusacion formal," --or "formal accusation" in English. It is a close approximation to an indictment or information in the U.S. criminal justice system. The charging documents were filed in January.

In an order dated November 8, 2013 a panel of three judges upheld a lower court finding that Williams should stand trial on criminal charges related to his activities as Director of Mining at the Cobre las Cruces Copper Mine near Seville. The lower court magistrate found sufficient evidence to try Williams and two other officials involved with the mine, and dismissed charges against a fourth person. Williams had appealed the finding by the lower court concluding that there was sufficient evidence to try him and the two others for crimes against the environment.

The appellate court highlighted that research showed arsenic concentrations in the aquifer beneath the mine were very high, and that evidence introduced showed that the relationship between field activity at the mine and the concentration of arsenic in the aquifer was "bastante claro" (quite clear). Three separate Spanish agencies certified irregularities during their investigation of the Cobre las Cruces Mine, and the Andalusian Water Authority concluded that there existed an enormous risk to the public water supply, and said the intended operating system at the mine was "an outrage" ("una barbaridad.&quot

According to Prosecutor Yolanda Ortiz, as Director of the Cobres las Cruces mine, Bill Williams was responsible for launching a system of drainage and injection into the Niebla-Posada aquifer which was not authorized, and which resulted in concentrations of arsenic in the aquifer well above the maximum permitted for human consumption. He said they were taking water from the bottom of the "cut" (open pit) and injecting it into the aquifer. Ortiz, the Public Prosecutor, said this was "totalmente prohibido" (totally prohibited). According to the charges the company also withdrew water from the aquifer, used it, treated it, and re-injected it without authority.

The prosecutor's charges highlighted the withdrawals and injections of water that were not permitted, the illegal construction of nine rafts, and the high levels of arsenic in the aquifer.

For his role Bill Williams is charged under Articles 325 and 326b of the Penal Code with a crime against the environment, and is further charged with "other damage to the public domain" under Articles 263 and 264.4. For the first charge the prosecution is asking for 4 years in prison and a 9,000 euro fine, and for the second charge he seeks a year and a half in prison and a 2,700 euro fine.

[Scuba]

1. In absentia, no doubt.

[dragonlady]

2. As the source notes, he would need to be extradited in order to be tried

That is a rather complicated process and could take a long time, if it ever came to pass. The more immediate value of the Spanish case is to alert Wisconsin citizens to how amoral and uncaring Williams is about human health and the environment.

[hue]

3. Williams doesn't need to be extradited in order to be tried.As Scuba says he'll be tried in absentia

...There is an extradition treaty between the United States and Spain, but it is unknown at this time whether extradition would be pursued. Bill Williams could possibly elect to be tried in his absence. If he were convicted in his absence, Spanish authorities could later try to bring him to Spain to serve any sentence that might be handed down.

[dragonlady]

4. Why would he agree to be tried in absentia?

That would not seem to be of any benefit to him. Probably none of us are experts on Spanish criminal procedure and international law, but I found a source that says that in Spain, "In some cases, where the maximum penalty for the offence does not exceed one year and where the accused has been properly summoned, he or she can be tried in absentia." (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/139600/legal-procedures-criminal-cases.pdf) This implies that trial in absentia is not available to the prosecution, at least here, where the penalty is relatively severe. He just needs to stay out of Spain and fight any extradition proceedings here in the United States.

[hue]

5. Yes, You are correct about this dragonlady. Accord to Spainish law he must be present.

He must attend the trial and it will be held up until he gets there--which I doubt he will ever go unless extradited by our federal gov. I guess we'll just have to wait & see.
But Spain's charges should send a strong message to those in Iron & Ashland Counties that Williams & his company are not to be trusted/outright liars and will do sig, irreparable harm to their environment and surrounding area including the pollution of pristine L. Superior.