The Municipality of Braga requests the Administrative Court of Braga to use the evidence obtained during the 2019 criminal trial to avoid repetition of testimonies in the case of the death of the three UMinho students.
The families of the victims are asking for compensation of 450 thousand euros from the municipality and the company JM-Gestão de Condomínios, Lda. Each family seeks 150 thousand euros for non-material damage and death.
The Municipality of Braga requests the Administrative Court of Braga to use the evidence obtained during the 2019 criminal trial to avoid repeating testimonies in the case of the death of the three UMinho students. The families claim that both the chamber and the company were alerted about the precarious state of the structure and its risk of falling, arguing that the owner and the council had responsibility for its conservation and surveillance, due to its location in the public domain.
The trial, postponed twice, has a new session scheduled for this Thursday, and may be postponed again due to a decision by the judge, who gave the lawyers ten days to make a statement.
The chamber’s lawyer, Nuno Albuquerque, argues that the facts of the case were dealt with in the criminal proceedings, where criminal responsibility was established, with four defendants acquitted and seven witnesses interviewed.
The Braga City Council rejects the compensation, claiming it was not responsible for the accident in which a mail structure collapsed, killing three UMinho students in 2014.
The four students who accompanied the victims were acquitted of charges of negligent homicide in 2019.
