Madrid train bombing trial to start in February

20 September 2006

MADRID — The trial of 29 people accused of the  Madrid train bombings is to start in February, judicial sources said.

The Spanish daily El Pais reported on Wednesday the trial should end by July 2007.

The verdicts are likely to be handed down in October.

All 29 are accused of playing various parts in the attacks which killed 191 people in March 2004.

The defendants, mostly Spanish or Moroccan, were charged in April with murder and other crimes related to the four bombs that were placed on commuter trains just days before a general election.

The attacks contributed to the defeat of the conservative government, which claimed ETA had been involved.

The electorate believed the Popular Party had tried to deflect attention from Spain’s involvement in the Iraq invasion which was said to have provoked the attacks.

In Spain, unlike some other countries, verdicts are given weeks or months after a trial finishes.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news