Verdicts Handed Down on Madrid Bombings

Verdicts have been handed down on the Madrid bombings. 21 of 28 defendants were found guilty.

Those convicted include one of the alleged surviving ringleaders, Jamal Zougam.

Four people have been convicted of murder, among other offences. Three were sentenced to 30 years in prison for each of the 191 victims and 20 years each for each of the 1,800 injured.

Spaniard Emilio Suarez Trashorras, found guilty of supplying explosives, is among them.

However, seven others were found not guilty, including one of the alleged ringleaders, Rabei Osman. He is also known as Mohammed The Egyptian. Have no fear, however, because not guilty in this case doesn't mean he skates. He's serving a 10-year sentence for terror offences in Italy.

MSNBC has more on who was found guilty:

The three convicted lead suspects were handed sentences that stretched into the tens of thousands of years. They include Jamal Zougam, a Moroccan convicted of placing at least one bomb on one of the trains; Emilio Suarez Trashorras, a Spaniard who is a former miner found guilty of supplying the explosives used in the attacks; and Osman Gnaoui, a Moroccan accused of being a right-hand man of the plot’s operational chief.

Compare this with the lenient sentences handed down in the Bali bombing cases, which were then further watered down by the courts there. The Spanish courts gave these terrorists no mercy at all.

UPDATE:
While the Spanish courts threw the book at the convicted terrorists, Spanish law took away most of the sting, because the maximum sentence that can be imposed is 40 years. [HT: Captain Ed] Captain Ed also notes:

That works out to 76 days per victim, a detestable result.

Even more detestable, Osman walks away from any responsibility for the Madrid attack. Apparently the Spanish court didn't take Osman's own word for his leadership in attacking Spanish civilians with bombs on 11-M. The lack of a conviction in this case will certainly do nothing to deter future attacks in Spain, especially for those who style themselves as terrorist leaders. Even wiretaps won't bother such people in the future, since the courts don't put any stock into the taped conversations captured by intel and law-enforcement agents.

I fear he's right. The terrorists will continue to plot against Spain. If Spaniards are outraged over the fact that these sentences were reduced to all of 40 years, then they ought to do something about capping sentences.