Campaigners keep up pressure in Maxima case

  • 2014-02-05
  • Staff and wire reports

ACCOUNTABILITY: Lawyers want fair compensation for victims.

RIGA - Lawsuits seeking a total of 350 million euros in civil damages in the Zolitude Maxima tragedy in November last year have been filed with Riga Central District Court, Riga Regional Court, Riga Zemgale District Court and Talsi Regional Court, reports LETA.

The lawsuit filed with the Talsi Regional Court is a symbolic reference to the lengthy proceedings in the 1997 Talsi tragedy case, say representatives from the ‘Don’t Be Indifferent, Be Responsible’ campaign.
The lawsuits are targeted at seven entities altogether - retail trade company Maxima Latvija, construction company Re&Re, developer Homburg Zolitude, real estate company Tineo, Riga City Council, architect bureau Kubs and HND Grupa. The action against the Riga City Council totals just 28,457 euros, because the claimants say that they do not want taxpayers be fined; instead, they are targeting “guilty” Riga City Council officials.

The proponents of these actions want a full and proper accounting of events leading up to, and causing, the roof collapse, and accountability. Advocate Aldis Alliks, who is involved in the ‘Be Responsible!’ campaign, told TBT that “The campaign is devoted to exposing and analyzing the very system and its errors that led to the tragic result. Also, the actions and failures to act by the responsible institutions as well as involvement of politicians whatsoever.”
The association says that if it wins, 90 percent of the amount, or 315 million euros, will be donated to charity, children, firefighters, the police, medical workers, teachers and pensioners.

At the beginning of January, Riga Regional Court concluded, in reviewing another 100 million lats (142.8 million euros) lawsuit filed by the ‘Be Responsible!’ group, that the movable and immovable property of Maxima Latvija, Re&Re, Tineo (owner of the collapsed building), and Homburg Zolitude could not be attached to secure the claim.

Seeking answers
‘Be Responsible!’ campaigners say that these are not the last lawsuits to be filed. More will follow, on a regular basis, to make life harder for the defendants and to remind them, as often as possible, about their role in the Zolitude tragedy.
Attorney Aldis Gobzems informed LETA previously that the first suit filed was on behalf of three victims - demanding 50 million lats for one, 40 million lats for another and 10 million lats for the third person suing.
When a reporter pointed out that the police investigation in the tragedy still continues and the guilty parties have not yet been established, Gobzems explained that the criminal case would determine the responsibility of individual suspects, whereas his case dealt with “legal entities’ responsibility.”

“Current practice has shown that it is not us who have to prove that they have failed to do something. It is they who must prove that they have done everything correctly. Under Civil Law, the burden of proof in such cases is diametrically opposite. If a person is convicted in the criminal case, the respective legal entities will be able to take legal recourse action,” explained the attorney.

“Any person has the right to fair compensation, but what amount is fair?” asked Gobzems. He believes that annual profit is too low a measure to base a judgement on in this case.
Alliks says, “The technical cause(s) of the collapse has (have) not been identified in a legal procedure yet. It is an issue to be dealt with in the criminal proceedings, i.e., by means of a conclusion of experts who are appointed by the investigators. As to the civil lawsuit, no conclusion of experts is necessary since the claim is based on the systematic errors and failures of the defendants in the case.”

To the general public, progress seems slow. And though the investigation has so far been properly carried out, Alliks said in January, he noted that he is “confused by the fact that there are no persons procedurally admitted as suspects or those against who the criminal case has been instigated. The very beginning of the criminal proceedings could have been carried out in a much more aggressive way, namely, any persons who are to be held responsible could have been detained and kept in custody so that they could not mutually confirm their statements and possibly hide any proof or traces.

Fifty-four people, including three firefighters, died and scores were injured when the Maxima supermarket roof caved in on shoppers on Nov. 21, 2013.

The campaign can be found on Facebook: www.facebook.com/esiatbildigs.