The trial of three men held responsible for more than 400 deaths in a Paraguayan fire flared into violence and looting today when judges recommended that they face reduced charges.
Youths and relatives of the 432 people killed in the fire at a Ycuá Bolaños supermarket in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, two years ago forced the judges to flee, ransacked the court and attacked the headquarters of the supermarket chain, pulling food off the shelves and lighting fires in the street.
Riot police firing rubber bullets were called to disperse the crowds. Most of the fighting stopped by nightfall after 15 protesters and 12 police officers had been injured and President Nicanor Duarte appeared on television to say that the judges had been dismissed from the case.
The catastrophic blaze on August 1, 2004, and the slow, subsequent prosecution of those widely held responsible has caused enormous frustration in Paraguay. The owners of the Ycuá Bolaños supermarket chain, Juan Pio Paiva and his son, Daniel, were arrested soon after the fire with a security guard who was on duty at the shop.
The men were accused of closing the doors of the supermarket when it burst into flames with more than 2,000 people, including scores of young families, inside. The store owners were said to have been worried about looting.
Prosecutors have urged that the men face murder charges, but yesterday three judges at the trial ruled by 2 to 1 that they should only be charged with manslaughter, which carries a sentence of seven years in Paraguay.
The decision caused a spontaneous riot at the temporary court, which was set up in a basketball court to admit around 100 relatives of those killed in the fire. As the crowd ran forward, tossing over tables and chairs, the judges were hastily escorted out of the building under the shelter of police and their riot shields. None of the judges was injured.
"This is a farce, this is a real shame," said Liz Torres, a survivor of the fire who has represented the victims. "Justice does not exist in Paraguay."
Later, as Paraguayan television showed cars on fire and police in running battles with groups of young men, President Duarte appeared to side with other politicians sympathetic to the relatives, who have called for a fresh prosecution and murder charges to be brought against the supermarket owners.
"I’ve spoken with the attorney general of the nation and have asked him with all due respect to request that these judges be removed from this case," said Mr Duarte, who promised that the new trial would reflect the seriousness of the case.
