Spain's high court upholds acquittal in '04 bombings
Rail attacks killed 191. An alleged plotter, already convicted in Italy, was cleared.
MADRID, Spain - Spain's Supreme Court yesterday upheld the acquittal of a top suspect in the 2004 Madrid commuter-train bombings, rejecting an appeal by prosecutors partly on the grounds that the man had already been convicted of the same crime in Italy.
Rabei Osman, an Egyptian, was one of three alleged masterminds cleared of mass murder in the bombings at a trial in Madrid in October. The long trial was a painful reminder to Spaniards of one of the blackest days in their country's history.
The court ruled yesterday that because Osman had already been sentenced to eight years in prison in Italy for association with a terror group, he could not be condemned again for the same crime, a court official said on condition of anonymity because of departmental rules. The court also upheld his acquittal on the mass-murder charges, saying there was insufficient evidence.
Spanish prosecutors had argued unsuccessfully that Osman was appealing his Italian sentence, as they tried to leave the door open for a second trial here.
In Spain, both prosecutors and defendants can appeal lower-court decisions.
Ten backpack bombs ripped through four packed rush-hour commuter trains on the morning of March 11, 2004, killing 191 people and injuring more than 1,800.
A two-year Spanish investigation concluded that the killings had been carried out by homegrown radicals, inspired by al-Qaeda's call to arms but with no direct link to Osama bin Laden's group.
Twenty-one people - including three masterminds - were convicted during the five-month trial that ended in October. Seven others, including Osman, were acquitted.
The Supreme Court also absolved four other men - Basel Ghalyoun, Mouhannad Almallah Dabas, Abdelilah el Fadual el Akil and Raul Gonzalez - who had all been convicted of lesser charges and sentenced to anywhere from five to 12 years.
The court slightly reduced the sentences of several others, and reversed the acquittal of Antonio Toro. The judges convicted him of exchanging explosives used in the attack for drugs and money, and sentenced him to four years.
Another convicted mastermind, Othman el Gnaoui, was cleared of the lesser charge of falsification but would remain in jail on the more serious charges.
