Ironduke

Madrid: 38,000-year jail terms sought

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Prosecutors in the Madrid train bombing case are expected to seek prison terms of about 38,000 years for each of the seven prime defendants in the trial due to start next February, a prosecution source has told CNN.

The long prison terms sought -- expected to be made public in a prosecution document on Tuesday -- would be for six suspected Islamic terrorists and also for a seventh man, born in Spain, who is accused of providing the others with explosives used in the attacks.

The long prison terms sought were calculated based on murder charges against the seven prime defendants for each of the 191 people who died in the attacks on Madrid commuter trains on March 11, 2004, and also for the attempted murders of the 1,824 others who were wounded, the prosecution source told CNN on Monday.

The trial is expected to last for months. The defendants -- if convicted of all the charges -- would serve only a maximum of 40 years in prison, under Spanish law, which prohibits the death penalty, the source said.

The train bombing case also has 22 other indicted defendants, mainly suspected Islamic terrorists but also including various Spaniards alleged to have been involved in explosives trafficking. These 22 defendants would face prison terms of 30 to 40 years each if convicted for their supporting roles in the attacks, the source said.

The prison terms that the prosecution is expected to seek were first published Monday in three leading Spanish newspapers -- El Pais, El Mundo and ABC -- and later confirmed by CNN with the prosecution source.

The seven prime defendants include three suspected Islamic terrorists thought to be among the ideologues of the attacks, and three other suspected Islamic terrorists suspected of actually putting some of the bombs on the four trains that were torn apart in the explosions.

The seventh prime defendant is Spanish born, considered a "necessary cooperator" in the attacks, by allegedly facilitating the explosives that were manufactured in Spain and stolen from a legitimate mine in the north.

Seven other key suspects in the bombings blew themselves up three weeks after the attacks in 2004 as police closed in on their hideout in a Madrid suburb. The seven dead suspects were thought to also have placed bombs aboard the trains, the source said.

The source said the prosecution document to be released on Tuesday would show that the idea for an attack by a terror group based in Spain -- but inspired by al Qaeda doctrine and terror techniques -- started after various al Qaeda operatives were arrested in late 2001, following the September 11th attacks in the United States.

The plot gained consistency after Spain sent troops to Iraq in support of the U.S.-led coalition there in 2003, and following a threat from Osama bin Laden in October 2003 against various countries, including Spain, the source said.

The prosecution document on Tuesday will say that the technique of using cell phones as timers, connected to the explosives, was a method copied from terrorist training in Afghanistan, the source said.

A panel of judges at the National Court ruled last Tuesday ruled that the investigative phase of the Madrid train bombings has concluded, and that the case is ready for trial.

The National Court is expected to hold the trial starting next February in a special courthouse on the outskirts of Madrid.

JBodnar39

So the headline reading "38,000 year jail term" is complete Horse**** since they can only be made to serve 40 years - a typical example of how a liberal society flaunts symbolism over substance.