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November 3, 2007

Spain: 10 Convicted Islamist Terrorists On Hunger Strike

The multiple train bombings which took place on 11 carriages on four trains at Madrid on March 11, 2004, took the lives of 191 people and injured 1,856. Investigators had argued that the attacks were carried out as "revenge" for Spain's support for the "war on terror" which meant that Spanish troops were based in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The government of Jose Maria Aznar lost the election three days later, even though it had previously been tipped to win. Aznar had rashly declared immediately after the bombings that the attacks had been the work of Basque separatist group ETA, even though eyewitnesses had stated seeing people of North African appearance leaving rucksacks on the trains which blew up. This caused a lack of credibility for his Popular Party, and when elections were held on March 14, 2004, the left-wing Socialist Workers Party, led by Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, won the vote. Within a matter of days of Zapotero coming to power, the Spanish troops in Afghanistan and Iraq returned home.

On April 3, 2004, the suspected main ringleaders of the Madrid cell, a Tunisian named Sarhane ben Abdelmajid Fakhet (nicknamed "el Tunecino", or the Tunisian) and a Moroccan named Jamal Ahmidan ("el Chino", or the Chinese), were with five associates in an apartment in Leganes, a Madrid suburb, while police gathered outside, ready to raid the building. Rather than surrender, the Islamists detonated an explosive device (pictured left) killing themselves, one policeman, and at least 11 officers.

29 people were indicted in April this year on charges related to the March bombings. On Wednesday, October 31, 21 of these were convicted. The acquittals of some of the defendants who were suspected of major involvement in the attacks has caused outrage among the families of victims, and some have vowed to launch an appeal. Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, aged 35, was widely assumed to have been a key planner of the attacks, but he was acquitted. This decision angered most commentators, although prime minister Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was quoted as saying that justice had been done.

Maria Jose Gutierrez, whose sister died in the atrocity, said: "There are far too few guilty verdicts for such a horrible crime." The Popular Party's foreign affairs spokesman Gustavo de Aristegui said to the BBC that further investigation is needed. He said that there were "certain details of these atrocious attacks we still think that are unknown. We still don't know who gave the order, we still don't know who built those bombs, and we still don't know who was the co-ordinator of these cells that carried out these attacks."

Before sentences were passed, defendants openly laughed and joked (pictured) inside the bullet-proof booth in the courtroom. Sentences were read out live on Spanish TV.

Two individuals - 33-year old Jamal Zougam from Morocco and 32-year old Otman el Gnaoui, also from Morocco - were convicted of actually carrying out bombings. Former Spanish miner Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras, aged 30, was convicted of supplying the explosives used in the attacks. These three were given sentenced of up to 43,000 years in jail each, even though Spanish law prohibits any individual from remaining in jail for more than 40 years.

The Telegraph quotes trial testimony from 50-year old Luisa Alvarez, who was traveling to work, accompanied by her son, on March 11, 2004. She said: "Everything was normal and then in an instant the world was transformed. What we saw was horrific - heavy overcoats and clothes had just disintegrated off people. I saw men with tangled limbs and dead babies lying on the tracks. It was like walking through a war zone. We couldn't understand what was happening."

"Across the aisle from us there was one man whose entire face had been burned away. Everywhere I turned there was blood. The windows were smashed and there was moaning and crying but I couldn't see where it was coming from."

Isabel Presa lost her youngest son in the blasts. She said of the verdicts: "I'm not a judge or a lawyer, but this is shameful, outrageous." She claimed the attacks "condemned me and my husband to a life sentence, and these people get off scot-free."

The Sentences

Details from the BBC website:

Jamal Zougam (left), who ran a mobile phone shop in Madrid, was given 191 sentences of 30 years jail for each of the individuals who died in the attacks, and for each of the 1,856 individuals who were injured - for which he was convicted of attempted murder - he received 20 years. Additionally he received 12 years jail for belonging to a terrorist group.

Otman el Ghanoui was given 191 thirty-year sentences for murder, and 1,856 twenty-year sentences for attempted murder. He was given 12 years for belonging to a terrorist group and additionally was given 4 sentences of 15 years' duration for causing "terrorist carnage".

Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras, the Spanish miner who provided the explosives was given 192 sentences of twenty-five years, for the 191 people who died in the train blasts, and also for the policeman who died when members of the terror group blew themselves up in the Madrid suburb of Leganes on April 3, 2004.

Abdelmajid Bouchar, a Moroccan, was given an 18 year sentence. He is said to have escaped the Leganes apartment before the fatal bomb explosion.

Basel Ghalyoun, a Syrian national aged 27, was given a 12 year sentence. He was accused of recruiting cell members.

Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, aged 35, aka "Mohammed the Egyptian" was widely expected to be convicted of multiple murder. He was found not guilty.

Youssef Belhadj, a Moroccan, was accused of multiple murder. He was instead found guilty of belonging to a terrorist organization, and was given a 12-year sentence.

Hasan el Haski, a Moroccan and suspected member of the Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain (GICM), was indicted on multiple murder counts and attempted murder, but was only convicted of belonging to a terrorist group. He was given a 15 year jail sentence.

30-year old Moroccan-born Hamid Ahmidan was given a 23-year jail sentence. Spaniards Sergio Alvarez Sanchez, aged 28, and 25-year old Antonio Ivan Reis were both sentenced to three years' jail.

28-year old Moroccan-born Rachid Aglif was given an 18 year sentence. Moroccan born Saed el Harrak, aged 34, was given a 12-year sentence, as was 28-year old Mohamed Bouharrat from Morocco.

47-year old Lebanese Mahmoud Slimane Aoun was given a three year sentence, as was 38-year old Algerian Nasreddine Bousbaa.

Fouad el Morabit Amghar, a Moroccan aged 34, was sentenced to 12 years' jail, as was Syrian-born Mouhannad Almallah "Dabas" aged 43. 30-year old Moroccan-born Mohamed Larbi Ben Sellam was given a 12 year sentence. 28-year old Moroccan Rafa Zouhier was given a 10-year sentence.

Not guilty

As well as Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, those who were found not guilty of charges laid against them were Spaniards Antonio Toro (30), Carmen Maria Tora Castro (26), Javier Gonzalez Diaz (55), Emiliano Llano Alvarez (47), Raul Gonzalez Pelaez (28) and Ivan Granados Pena (28). Also Moroccan-born Mohamed Moussaten, aged 23, was found not guilty.

Carmen Maria Tora Castro, the only woman who had been charged, was accused of trafficking explosives. She was the wife of Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras, the former miner who was given a 4800 year sentence for providing the explosives. These had come from the mine in northern Spain where he had worked.

Hunger Strike

The convicted men were sent to various jails. On Friday it was reported in El Pais newspaper that nine of the convicted men had started a hunger strike. They were said to be protesting the "unjust" sentences. These included Jamal Zougam and Otman el Ghanoui (Othman el-Gnaoui).

Now, according to UK Press, Xinhua News and Reuters, that number has increased to ten of the convicted individuals, housed in four separate prisons. The hunger strikers are only receiving fluids, state Spanish prison officials.

A spokesman said: "They didn't all start at once. Some didn't have breakfast yesterday, others started at lunch and some at supper."

A hunger strike had been staged by 14 of the accused during the trial. This lasted for a few days, and had been held to protest the media and political pressures which they said were affecting the trial.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 3, 2007 7:54 PM

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