Madrid Bombing Verdicts

On October 31, 2007 Spanish courts announced the verdicts for 28 suspects arrested in connection to the Madrid train bombings that took place on March 11, 2004. Seven were acquitted, and 21 were convicted of charges ranging from forgery to mass murder. Because of the many civilian deaths, the public was surprised when the verdicts were not uniformly harsh on all the defendants.¹

Fast Facts

1. Judge presiding: Javier Gomez Bermudez
2. Total number of defendants: 27
3. Acquitted: 7
4. Convicted: 21
5. 8 main suspects received punishments of varying magnitude
6. Tried for involvement in train bombings during March, 2004
7. Deaths: 190
8. Injuries: 1,800-2000
9. Rumors of ETA involvement was quickly ruled out²
10. Those acquitted of murder charges were all convicted and imprisoned for other charges
11. Those convicted were sentenced to almost 40,000 years in prison
12. Under Spanish law, they can only serve a maximum of 40 years³
13. Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, the alleged mastermind of the attacks, was acquitted of all charges

Major Suspects Acquitted of Murder

1. Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed
2. Youssef Belhadj
3. Hassan el Haski
4. Abdulmajid Bouchar
5. Rafa Zouhier³

Major Suspects Convicted of Murder

1. Emilio Trashorras
2. Jamal Zougam
3. Othman el-Gnaoui³

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