Accused in train bombing trial give up hunger strike

21 May 2007

MADRID- Fourteen defendants in the Madrid train bombings trial have abandoned a hunger strike they were staging to denounce the terrorism charges they are facing, the National Court said Monday.

A court official said eight defendants had issued a statement through their lawyers Monday to the court saying they had given up the protest. Six others who had also been on hunger strike ended their protest last week, she said, adding that no defendants were now on hunger strike.

The official was speaking on condition of anonymity as court rules forbid her to be identified.

On May 10, four defendants, including two prime suspects, began the strike to protest what they called unjust accusations against them. A week later, 10 other defendants joined the protest. No details were immediately available as to why the defendants had abandoned the protest.

Presiding Judge Javier Gomez Bermudez warned last week that under no circumstances would the trial be suspended because of the hunger strike. He added that they could be force fed.

Twenty-nine people are on trial for the March 11, 2004 attacks, which killed 191 people.

The trial started Feb. 15 and is expected to last at least five months.

[Copyright AP with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news