Onderstaan bericht komt van cyclingnews (al is ch vervangen door tx).
Hopelijk leidt dit ook tot een versterking van de rechtspositie van fietsers in Spanje. Verder is de achtergrond van de vermoedelijke chauffeur ook zeer opmerkelijk.
A Spanish court has ordered that the crash in February 2001 that killed Kelme rider Ricardo Otxoa and seriously injured his twin brother Javier should be treated as a crime and not an accident.
The Otxoa brothers were hit by a car allegedly driven by the director-general of sport at the University of Malaga, Sebastián Fernández.
Opening the hearings into the case, Malaga provincial court judge Teresa Guerrero initially considered the case to be caused by a misjudgement, but the facts of the case have caused that assessment to change.
According to court sources quoted by Europa Press, the incident “goes beyond a simple misjudgement.” The court has therefore instructed the prosecutor's office to consider whether the incident might involve crimes such as negligent homicide, and negligently causing injury.
The Otxoa family and the Spanish association of professional cyclists (ACP) have announced that they will request the maximum penalties possible, which include four years jail for negligent homicide and a year for causing injury.
PS
Waarschijnlijk is een terugkeer van Javier Otxoa nu volledig uitgesloten, aangezien de opvolger van Kelme als sponsor met hem als actieve renner geen banden heeft. Hopelijk wordt hij wel financieel ondersteund in zijn herstel.