THE SPANISH state prosecutor has demanded jail sentences totalling 900 years for three Basque separatists accused of killing two and injuring another 41 people in a car bomb attack at Madrid airport three years ago.
He has also asked for €500,000 in damages for the families of the two victims.
The trial of Mattin Sarasola, Mikel San Sebastian and Igor Portu opened in the Audience Nacional in Madrid yesterday. They each face two charges of murder and 41 cases of attempted murder for the attack on a multi-storey car park at the Terminal 4 building less than a year after its inauguration. The 5,000sq m building, where more than 300 cars were parked, was totally destroyed in the explosion.
The early morning blast on December 30th, 2006, brought to an unexpected and violent end a ceasefire called by Eta, the Basque separatist movement, nine months previously. The 200kg bomb had been concealed in a van stolen in southwestern France three days earlier by terrorists who kidnapped the driver, tied him up and only released him after the attack.
Police had evacuated the buildings after receiving telephoned warnings shortly before the blast. But it is thought that the two victims, both migrant workers from Ecuador, failed to hear the warnings as they slept in their cars while waiting to welcome relatives arriving on early morning flights.
As the case – which is expected to last all week – opened yesterday, the accused refused to testify or to recognise the court. They sneered at the bench and lawyers and grinned at family members in the chamber. Speaking in Euskera, the Basque language, Mr Sarasola described the court as a fascist tribunal and alleged they had been tortured during interrogation.
Police evidence is expected to show that Gorikoitz Aspiasu, the former Eta military chief, plotted with another militant, Joseba Aramibar, to carry out the attack and gave instructions to the three accused. Aramibar is believed to have been responsible for stealing the van used for the bombing, and it is thought that the three accused carried out at least two dummy runs before finalising their plans.