Those That Got Away

Several suspects connected by the Spanish police to the Madrid train bombings have never been captured, as they fled Spain in the aftermath of the bombings. In one or two cases it was thought that the fugitives may have ended up in Iraq. Now it turns out that at least one of these, Mohamed Belhadj, has been living in Syria. This is the person who is accused of having rented the apartment in Leganés that was used as a hideout by the cell responsible for the bombings. Belhadj has now been extradited to his native country, Morocco, and is expected to stand trial in this country for his alleged participation in the bombings. Morocco does not extradite its own citizens to other countries, which explains why Belhadj will not end up on trial in Spain.

Other recent reports have suggested that the escape of the fugitives was not as difficult as might have been thought given the massive investigation launched by the police following the bombings. It seems that another of those who escaped, Daoud Ouhnane, stayed for some time in a house in Santa Coloma de Gramanet (near Barcelona) that was under police surveillance as part of an investigation into Islamist terrorism. Those entering and leaving the building were being secretly filmed, yet Ouhnane was not recognised. This was despite him being one of the most wanted people in Spain at the time. The train bombings were made much easier to carry out as a result of mistakes or incompetence on the part of different police forces, most notably in the area of control over explosives. Nevertheless, it is quite shocking to find that someone wanted for their participation in the attacks can be filmed a short time after in the context of a similar investigation and yet not be identified.

READ MORE IN SPANISH:
El País - Rubalcaba admite que la Policía filmó pero no identificó a uno de los huidos del 11-M
ABC - Marruecos envía a prisión a Mohamed Belhadj, un presunto implicado en los atentados del 11-M


READ MORE IN ENGLISH:
Reuters - Morocco detains Islamist over links to Madrid bombs

El Haski Loses His Appeal

Hassan el Haski has in the end received a sentence of 10 years imprisonment in Morocco for his alleged participation in the Casablanca bombings of 2003. Although he was initially found not guilty of these charges, a court of appeal in the Moroccan city of Sale has overturned this decision. El Haski is of course one of those sentenced as a result of the Madrid bombings trial.

READ MORE IN SPANISH:
Marruecos también condena a El Haski a diez años de cárcel

The Sentences

This is a listing of the verdict (and sentences where appropriate) for each of the 28 people who were still facing charges at the end of the trial.

Jamal Zougam – Charged by the prosecution with being a material author – one of those placing the bombs on the trains – he was found guilty and sentenced to a total of 42,922 years imprisonment based on a multiplier of the sentence of murder of 191 people and attempted murder of a further 1856.

Otman el Gnaoui – Also charged with being a material author, he was sentenced to a total of 42,924 years imprisonment

Emilio Suárez Trashorras – Found guilty of being a necessary collaborator through the provision of the explosives used in the bombs, Trashorras was sentenced to 34,715 years imprisonment. The multiplier used was based on 192 dead (including the policeman killed in Leganés) and 1991 attempted murders (this figure includes those present in the apartment block in Leganés at the time of the explosion there).

Hamid Ahmidam – Sentenced to 23 years for membership of a terrorist group and for offences related to drug trafficking.

Rachid Aglif – 18 years imprisonment for membership of a terrorist group and explosives offences.

Abdelmajid Bouchar – Charged as a material author by the prosecution, he was only found guilty of belonging to a terrorist group and explosives offences. Sentenced to 18 years imprisonment.

Hassan el Haski – The prosecution alleged he was an intellectual author of the bombings, one of those involved in the ideological preparation of the attacks. He was found not guilty of this offence but sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for his membership of the Moroccan Islamic Combat Group.

Basel Ghalyoun – Sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for belonging to a terrorist group

Mohamed Bouharrat – Also sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for membership of a terrorist group.

Youssef Belhadj – Charged as an intellectual author, the court found him not guilty of that offence but sentenced him to 12 years imprisonment for membership of a terrorist group.

Mohamed Larbi Ben Sellam – Found guilty of belonging to a terrorist group and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. Acquited on conspiracy charges.

Fouad el Morabit – Sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for membership of a terrorist group.

Mouhannad Almallah Dabas – Sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for membership of a terrorist group.

Saed el Harrak - Sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for membership of a terrorist group.

Rafa Zouhier – The prosecution charged him with being a necessary collaborator for his part in facilitating the supply of the explosives. The court rejected this, but sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment for explosives trafficking.

Abdelilah el Fadoual el Akil – Sentenced to 9 years imprisonment for collaborating with a terrorist group.

Raúl González – Sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for explosives trafficking.

Nasredine Bousbaa – Sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for forgery of documents. Found not guilty of collaboration with a terrorist group.

Mahmoud Slimane Aoun – Sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for forgery of official documents. He has already served this sentence whilst awaiting trial. Not guilty of collaborating with a terrorist group.

Iván Reis Palicio – Sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for explosives trafficking.

Sergio Álvarez – Sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for explosives trafficking.



The following defendants were found not guilty:


Rabei Osman el Sayed Ahmed – Charged with being an intellectual author, the court found him not guilty and given that he is already sentenced in Italy for membership of a terrorist group this charge was also dropped.

Antonio Toro – Charged by the prosecution of being a collaborator in the supply of the explosives.

Carmen Toro – Charged with explosives trafficking.

Emilio Llano – Charged with collaborating in trafficking explosives.

Mohamed Moussaten – Charged with collaboration with a terrorist group

Javier González – Charged with explosives trafficking and illicit association.

Iván Granados - Charged with explosives trafficking and illicit association.

Imprisoned In Morocco....Abdelilah Hriz

A Moroccan citizen, Abdelilah Hriz has been cited as another of the material authors (those responsible for placing the bombs) of the train attacks. The accusation was announced after the beginning of the trial as a result of genetic profiles identifying him as having been present at some point in the apartment in Leganés where 7 of the group committed suicide in April 2004. His DNA has also been identified at the house in Morata de Tajuña where the bombs are said to have been prepared. He is believed to have been in Madrid between March and October or November of 2004. Apart from the DNA evidence, the investigating magistrate has claimed that Hriz formed part of a network dedicated to recruiting volunteers to fight in Iraq. He was arrested in Syria and deported to Morocco where he is currently held in prison.

READ MORE IN SPANISH:

La Vanguardia

Extradited....Moutaz Almallah Dabas

A Syrian citizen, Moutaz Almallah Dabas was extradited from the United Kingdom on the 8th March 2007, after the trial had begun. Brother of the accused Mouhannad Almallah Dabas, he was arrested on the 19th March 2005 in Slough, not far from London. His brother had been arrested the day before in Spain. He is accused along with his brother of being involved with the Islamist cell responsible for organising the train bombings; both are accused of having been involved in recruitment of young people for radical Islamist causes. Moutaz Almallah Dabas was the tenant of a property in the Madrid street of Virgen del Coro allegedly used for this purpose.

READ MORE IN SPANISH:
El País

READ MORE IN ENGLISH
MSN news

Convicted....Gabriel Montoya

A Spanish citizen, Gabriel Montoya is so far the only person to have been convicted and sentenced for an offence connected to the train bombings. Commonly known as "El Gitanillo", Montoya was accused of having participated in the theft of the explosives used in the bombs. It was found that he accompanied Emilio Suárez Trashorras to the Conchita mine from where the dynamite was stolen. It is also alleged that he carried 20 kilos of explosives to Madrid, where it was collected by Jamal Ahmidam, said to be the operational organiser of the attacks. Because he was only 16 years old at the time, Montoya was tried as a minor and sentenced to 6 years internment in a youth centre, to be followed by 5 years of restricted liberty.

Escaped....Mohamed Afalah

A Moroccan citizen, Mohamed Afalah is said to have been an active participant in the group that placed the bombs. He fled to Barcelona with Mohamed Belhadj following the explosion in Leganés on the 3rd April 2004. It is now believed he may have died in a suicide attack in Iraq in May 2005.

Escaped....Said Berraj

Said Berraj is a Moroccan citizen. He has been linked to Al Qaeda because of a meeting held in Istanbul in the year 2000. He has been linked both to Jamal Ahmidam, and to Serhane ben Abdelmajid. On the 6th March 2004 he left his home in Madrid, and on the 12th March it is claimed he said he was going to the funeral of his sister in Morocco; the investigation revealed he has no sister.

Escaped....Daoud Ouhnane

Daoud Ouhnane is an Algerian citizen, and he is thought to be one of the group responsible for placing the bombs on the trains. His fingerprints were found on a bag containing detonators that was discovered inside a Renault Kangoo van left near the railway station of Alcalá de Henares on the day of the bombings.

Escaped....Mohamed Belhadj

Mohamed Belhadj is a Moroccan citizen said to be the person who rented the apartment in Leganés where 7 members of the group responsible for the bombings committed suicide. Following this event, Belhadj is alleged to have fled to Barcelona and is later suspected of having passed through Holland.

Killed In Leganés....Allekema Lamari

Allekema Lamari was an Algerian citizen. He had been arrested previously for offences related to Islamist terrorism, but was able to walk free because of a judicial error. DNA traces have been found linking him to the Kangoo van found near to the railway station in Alcalá de Henares on the day of the train bombings.

Killed In Leganés....Rifaat Anouar Asrih

Rifaat Anouar Asrih was a Moroccan citizen. DNA traces have been found linking him to the house in Morata de Tajuña where the bombs were prepared, to the Kangoo van found near the railway station of Alcalá de Henares on the day of the bombings, and to the explosive device found on the high speed rail line connecting Madrid and Seville on the 2nd April 2004.

Killed In Leganés....Abdennabi Kounjaa

Abdennabi Kounjaa was a Moroccan citizen, and is said to have participated in transporting the explosive for the bombs from Asturias to Madrid. In addition there is DNA evidence linking him to the house in Morata de Tajuña where the bombs are said to have been prepared, and also to clothing found abandoned near to the train station of Vicálvaro on the same line used by the trains carrying the bombs. He was a workmate of Saed el Harrak, one of those accused in the trial.

Killed In Leganés....Rachid Oulad Akcha

A Moroccan citizen, Rachid Oulad Akcha is said to have been one of the group that carried out the bombings. The prosecution alleges that he was in the house where the bombs were prepared during February 2004, and that he participated together with his brother Mohamed Oulad Akcha in the acquisition and transport of the explosives used in the bombs.

Killed In Leganés....Mohamed Oulad Akcha

A Moroccan citizen, Mohamed Oulad Akcha is suspected of having been a key associate of Jamal Ahmidam, and of having been one of the group who carried out the train bombings. He is also said to have been a participant in the acquisition and transport of the explosives used in the bombs. He is the brother of Rachid Oulad, who died with him in the explosion in Leganés.

Killed In Leganés....Jamal Ahmidam

Another of those regarded as being the principal organisers of the train bombings, Jamal Ahmidam was a Moroccan citizen, although because of his appearance he was known as "El Chino". He is said to have been the person behind the purchase of the explosives used in the bombs. In a video tape discovered in the wreckage of thhe Leganés apartment where he committed suicide with six others, El Chino is seen reading a document where he threatened further attacks if the Spanish government did not withdraw its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan within a week.

Killed In Leganés....Serhane Ben Abdelmajid

A Tunisian citizen, and for this reason almost universally referred to as "El Tunecino", Serhane ben Abdelmajid is regarded as one of the principal organisers of the train bombings. He originally came to Spain in 1996 as a student, and later worked in construction and in an estate agency. Accused of being a close associate of Abu Dahdah, imprisoned for being a leader of Al-Qaeda in Spain.

Accused....Antonio Iván Reis

Of Spanish nationality from Oviedo in Asturias, Reis is charged with trafficking, transport and supply of explosive substances. The prosecution has asked for a sentence of 8 years imprisonment for these offences. A former employee in the mine from where the explosives used in the bombs are said to have been stolen, he admits to having transported a sports bag to Madrid which he handed on arrival to Jamal Ahmidam (one of those who died in the explosion at Leganés). He claims that he did this to repay a debt he owed to Antonio Toro. He is currently free on bail.

Accused....Sergio Álvarez Sánchez

A Spanish citizen from Avilés in Asturias, Álvarez is charged with trafficking, transport and supply of explosive substances. For these charges the prosecution asks for a sentence of 8 years imprisonment. He is accused of having made a bus journey to Madrid with a bag of explosives allegedly given to him by Emilio Suárez Trashorras. He was detained in June 2004 but is currently free on bail.

Accused....Raúl González Peláez

A Spanish citizen, he is charged with trafficking, transport and supply of explosive substances. The prosecution requests a prison sentence of 8 years for him. Nicknamed "El Rulo", he is accused by the prosecution of having accompanied members of the group responsible for the bombings to the mine where the explosive was stolen. Detained in June 2004, he is currently free on bail.