Court declares the 11-M Madrid terrorist attackers had no links with ETA
Javier Gómez Bermúdez, the magistrate in charge of the 11-M trial declared this morning that there was no evidence to back up the claims of the conspiracy theory put forward by the sensationalist press and Spain’s main opposition party, the PP, that the terrorists who carried out the March 11th terrorist attacks in 2004 had any links with the Basque terrorist organisation ETA. He also gave his backing to the investigation carried out by the judge Juan del Olmo and the Public Prosecutor, Olga Sánchez.
The court found 21 of the defendants guilty of the Madrid train bombings. Seven of the suspects on trial were cleared. Prison sentences of nearly 40,000 years have been imposed on the three lead defendants, Emilio Trashorras, Jamal Zougam and Othman el-Gnaoui.
In his declaration this morning Javier Gómez Bermúdez took apart the conspiracy theory bit by bit.
He said that there was no evidence whatsoever to link the 11-M terrorists to ETA. He said that none of the evidence presented to the court during the trial could be linked to ETA.
He said that the Renault Kangoo van which has been in police custody since it was found at Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) train station contained explosive cartridges identical to those found in the flat in Leganés and that the denial that this evidence existed is unfounded.
Regarding the Vallecas rucksack Javier Gómez Bermúdez also pointed out categorically that this piece of evidence had been in police custody since it was discovered. He said that the rucksack which was found in Puente de Vallecas was identical to the others found during the investigation and was therefore a vital piece of evidence.
All or most of the explosives used in the 11-M attacks and those that exploded in the flat in Leganés came from the Conchita mine in Asturias.
The explosives were stolen from the mine due to a lack of security. So far one person has been convicted of stealing the explosives.
Javier Gómez Bermúdez also said that there was no doubt over the 7 suicides that occurred in the flat in Leganés. He said that the document belonging to ETA that was found in the rubble belonged to a neighbour who was investigating the terrorist organisation for the police and who had made a statement to the court.
The Basque Terrorist group has not been investigated. Many key witnesess have not declared. High rank gouvernment workers have not been persecuted for lying under oath. The judge said that they don’t know what exploded, but that the explosives came from Mina Marita. Can we call this a fair trial? I don’t think so.
I disagree and it is an insult to the members of the Spanish court who have worked so long and have conducted an exemplary trial in the face of other country’s attempts to bring justice to terrorists (Guatanamo por ejemplo). Spain has shown the world that terrorists can be bought to justice in a civilised manner. It is only bitter PP supporters who suggest otherwise – today’s statement from the judge leading the trial dismounted one by one the right-wing conspiracy theory.