Spain frees two men wrongly framed as jihadists by informant

Spain on Wednesday freed two men arrested before New Year’s Eve on suspicion of contemplating an attack, who authorities later discovered had actually been framed by a police informant.

“There is no longer any evidence suggesting that the accused were jihadists,” Judge Santiago Pedraz wrote in a ruling.

Police regularly announce the detention of suspected jihadists accused of propaganda or glorifying extremism, but this particular arrest late December caused alarm as information emerged suggesting that both men were actively considering an attack.

Police said they had found videos showing a man in front of the Islamic State flag shouting “Allah is great” and other men holding an AK-47.

In one video, a man is seen in front of an image of the Puerta del Sol, a central Madrid square where thousands celebrate New Year’s Eve every year.

Authorities were quick to allay fears, saying there was no indication an attack was actually being organised before the arrest, but the discovery still sparked jitters in the capital.

Then Spanish media reported that the suspects were the victims of a scheme initiated by a police informant dubbed “Lolo.”

The El Mundo daily reported last week that the video was put together by “Lolo”, who was paid monthly by the police and would get a bonus for “extraordinary” information.

“Lolo” had tried to peddle his video to Spain’s intelligence services which ignored him, the newspaper said.

Madrid’s police, though, took him at his word and launched the probe that led to the arrests, it added.

In his ruling, the judge confirmed that “Lolo” was an informant.

He added that nothing, not even phone taps, pointed to “the possible existence of a terrorism offence.”

The AK-47 seen in the videos was never found, and it is not even certain that it was real, the judge said.

But he only let the two men out on conditional release pending the analysis of all items seized during the probe.