Four years after the loss of life of worker Bassirou Dione in February 2020, today they sit before the judge responsible for Zorroza Waste Management. The trial, which sought to clarify what happened, has concluded with an agreement between the prosecution, the private prosecution and the defence, in which the defendants have recognised crimes and have been sentenced to a prison sentence of one year and six months, together with the order to compensate the relatives of Dione with 30,000 euros.

Movement recognition

Without trial, both defendants recognize that, with the intention of covering up what happened, Bassirou Dione's body was moved after dreaming of an eight-meter height. The judge has sentenced both defendants to six months ' imprisonment for a crime against the safety of workers and to one year ' s imprisonment for murder of serious recklessness. So things, the boss and the manager don't get into prison. The agreement also provides for compensation of EUR 30,000 for the family of Bassirou Dione.

The judgment finds it proven that those responsible for Zorroza Waste Management did not provide Dione with the necessary safety measures, resulting in his death.

Background

Bassirou Dione, a 24-year-old boy, died on 24 February 2020 at the Zorroza Waste Management company located in the industrial estate of Murga, at a height of eight meters.

The death of the Senegalese workers was a death surrounded by lights and shadows from the beginning. The company in charge of waste management was known for its working conditions and ill-treatment, and the events occurred quickly in the region.

On February 24, Monday, at 17:30 emergency services were notified, but witnesses in the area of the company saw no extra movements at that time. But yes, from Monday to Tuesday night, the trucks in the area were taking the trash out of the Zorroza Waste Management pavilion after the accident and on 25 February, when the Ertzaintza and Osalan appeared, they found the area perfectly clean.

Report by Osalan

With all the outbreaks of the waste management company, Osalan issued a report dementing the initial version of the company’s managers to the emergency services.

Bassirou Dione departed from 8.7 meters high. Dione had been working at Zorroza Waste Management for a week, and he was on a ladder, together with two other colleagues, repairing elements of the roof without the necessary security and training measures.

Osalan explained more explanatory data in the report and suggested that some elements were changed at the scene of the accident after the accident was received.

Trial extended for four years

“Pandemic and the functioning of the Amurrio Court have lengthened the whole process,” explains Aiaraldea Komunikabideak Andoni Hernández, lawyer of the private prosecution. Today, 8 May, four years after the death of Dione, all the parties have met at the Court of Justice of Vitoria-Gasteiz to clarify once and for all what has happened.

In the dock of defendants sit the master and responsible of Zorroza Waste Management. Another five persons were summoned to testify before the judge: two technicians from Osalan, two workers from Zorroza Waste Management and one ertzaina. But before entering the trial all the parties have reached an agreement.

Hernandez himself warned in the court portal about the opportunity of the agreement: “In recent days there has been an approximation on the part of the defendants with the aim of seeking palliative treatment for the crimes charged to them”.

Both Osalan's report, mentioned above, and the testimonies of the worker called to testify, point out that "they left little room for doubt". Thus, the defendants could hardly avoid the crimes of murder of grave recklessness and insecurity of the workers against whom the prosecution and the private prosecution demonstrated their opposition.

Closed chapter

Today’s agreement has closed the judicial process begun four years ago and clarified in some way the responsibility of those responsible for Zorroza Waste Management on the death of Bassirou Dione. However, there are still questions that need an answer, such as the working conditions of the Senegalese workers of origin who were working in the waste management company at the time of the accident.

The practice of Murga’s company remains surrounded by lights and shadows. Indeed, in recent years there have been numerous reports and studies that have questioned the management and infrastructure of the company, with a fine of EUR 120,000. The accounts of Zorroza Waste Management continue to have a long string that needs to be clarified in the new chapters.