Overview
- After initially declining, the judge authorized access to the WhatsApp group called 'Chat Emergencias' tied to the October 29, 2024 response.
- An European Investigation Order was issued to Telegram in Brussels and a rogatory request was sent to the United States for WhatsApp.
- The expansion relies on testimony and a forensic report confirming the group comprised José Manuel Cuenca, Salomé Pradas and Emilio Argüeso, allowing extension of Cuenca’s prior consent.
- The court noted earlier consent covered messages from October 29 and emergency-related exchanges, then broadened the scope to reconstruct the group chat after Cuenca’s device data proved unrecoverable.
- Investigators summoned regional police who staffed the Cecopi command center and two Buseo dam operators as witnesses, while rejecting a probe of the CHJ after ruling no causal link to the 230 deaths from the Forata dam.