New Delhi: After nearly a year of halt in proceedings, the trial of seven health care professionals accused of negligence in the death of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona began on Tuesday.
The initial trial collapsed once the presiding judge quit after appearing in a documentary filmed on the case after the seven were accused of failing to provide adequate care before Maradona‘s death five years ago in Buenos Aires.
Regarded as the one of the greatest ever footballers, Maradona passed away from cardiac arrest aged 60 in November 2020 after an undergoing an operation to remove a blood clot from his brain.
The seven defendants are charged with culpable homicide, with allegations suggesting that their avoidable reckless conduct led to his death, and if proven guilty they face jail time ranging from eight to 25 years.
The accused have pleaded not guilty pointing to his multiple serious ailments, arising from excess of drug and alcohol consumption and
Fernando Burlando, attorney for Maradona’s two eldest daughters Dalma and Giannina, has spoken of his confidence in the new panel.
‘Exhausted’
“We place enormous trust in them. They are judges with extensive experience and backgrounds,” Burlando said, adding that the daughters remain “very exhausted”.
“It is very difficult. They are Maradona’s daughters, and that alone is not easy, and the fact that they cannot even have a moment of relief to know what happened to their father… although we are convinced of what happened.”
Through a report in 2021, a 20-member medical panel appointed to investigate Maradona’s death accused the medical team of working in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner”.
It was noted that he was left in agony and without help for over 12 hours before his death, with nearly 100 witnesses expected to testify during hearings that will happen twice a week leading to a verdict likely to be delivered in June.