Three of ‘bomb gang’ freed

18 June 2004

MADRID – The judge leading the investigation into the Madrid terrorist attacks released Friday three suspects who were accused of supplying the explosives.

Two of these were Carmen and Antonio Toro Castro, the wife and brother-in-law of ex-miner José Emilio Suárez Trashorras, who has been charged with selling the explosives to the terrorists.

The third suspect to be released was Sergio Alvarez Sanchez, who was among a group of eight suspects arrested last week.

The three were released Friday after the judge heard evidence from them in Madrid.

But the judge did order that they cannot leave the country and must report to a court near their home town in Aviles in northern Spain.

Only three of the so-called ‘Asturias gang’ have been ordered to remain in prison, according to legal sources.

These are Emilio Llano, Iván Granados and Raúl González. Two others await questioning.

The move follows the release Thursday of  three Moroccans who were among the first suspects arrested in connection with the 11 March train bombings in Madrid.

The release of Mohamed Chaoui, Mohamed Bekkali and Abderrahim Zbakh was ordered by Judge Olmo at the request of prosecutor Olga Sanchez, who pointed to the “weakness of the evidence” against them.

Although they were suspected of leaving the bombs on the trains, none of the passengers could positively identify Chaoui, Bekkali and Zbakh with any certainty, Sanchez said.

The March bombings of four commuter trains left 192 dead and more than 1,500 wounded.

The three suspects had been charged with belonging to an armed group, 190 counts of murder and 1,430 counts of attempted murder, as well as four acts of terrorism.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news