- Title: SPAIN: Spanish court clears four more in Madrid train bombing
- Date: 18th July 2008
- Summary: (EU) MADRID, SPAIN (JULY 17, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF SUPREME COURT BUILDING JOSE MARIA FUSTER FABRA, LAWYER OF THE MARCH 11 VICTIMS ASSOCIATION, WALKING OUTSIDE SUPREME COURT BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JOSE MARIA FUSTER FABRA, LAWYER OF THE MARCH 11 VICTIMS ASSOCIATION, SAYING: "It is natural the victims are not going to like this, that is evident. But we
- Embargoed: 2nd August 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Spain
- Country: Spain
- Reuters ID: LVAA2REI1OCXYB2A8BRIS8KDC10
- Story Text: Spanish Supreme court clears four men previously sentenced for the Madrid bombings in 2004 and upholds the acquittal of 'Mohamed the Egyptian', Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, initially accused as one of the masterminds behind the bombings.
A Spanish court on Thursday (July 17) said it had cleared four of the 21 people charged for crimes related to the 2004 Madrid train bombings, Europe's deadliest Islamist attack.
The court overturned an October 31, 2007 ruling, which found three of the men guilty of being members of the radical Islamist cell that carried out the March 11 bombings that killed 191 people and injured more than 1,800.
A fourth man was cleared of trafficking explosives.
The court also upheld the acquittal of "Mohamed the Egyptian", Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, who was accused of being one of the masterminds behind the bombings.
The initial reaction of victims groups was to put a brave face on the decision, which also reduced the sentences of five men by between one and three years.
"It is natural the victims are not going to like this, that is evident. But we live in a democracy and in a democracy judges are free to make decisions. It is true that in this case we don't agree with their decision but we have to comply with the sentence," said Jose Maria Fuster Fabra, a lawyer for one victims group.
The initial October ruling also cleared three men of masterminding the attack and acquitted seven others.
Included in Thursday's appeal ruling was a decision to sentence Spanish man Antonio Toro to four years imprisonment for trafficking explosives.
That took the total number of those found guilty of the attack to 18, compared with the original 21.
Many victims were shocked by the original sentences, which in many cases were much lower than the state attorney had requested, and angry at the acquittals.
Three men -- two Moroccans and a Spaniard who provided the bombers with explosives -- were handed down sentences which may keep them in prison for 40 years, the maximum in Spanish law.
Ten bombs packed into sports bags and detonated by mobile phones tore through the trains in 2004, leaving the tracks strewn with bodies.
Three weeks later, seven men including two suspected ringleaders of the train bombings blew themselves up in a suburban apartment after police closed in on them. The explosives were the same as those used in the March 11 attack.
The court laid most of the charges at the feet of three men sentenced to thousands of years in prison. The magistrate who investigated the bombings said was inspired by, but not directed by, al Qaeda.
Spanish courts have said there was no proof Basque separatist rebels ETA had anything to do with the train bombs, despite some media and victims' support groups still insisting there must be some link to them.
The conservative government in power in March 2004 at first pinned the attack on ETA but as more evidence piled up to show it was the work of an Islamist cell, Spain turned against its leaders and voted them out of power three days later. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None