Three accused in 2017 terror attacks case sent to trial for terrorism, not murder

Spain’s National Court has sent three alleged members of the terrorist cell that killed 16 people in two attacks in Barcelona and the seaside town of Cambrils on August 17 and 18, 2017 to trial.

The court is charging the three suspects with crimes such as belonging to a terrorist organization and making and possessing explosives, but says there is not enough evidence to attribute them a direct role in the terror attacks.

The members of the terrorist cell, recruited in the northern town of Ripoll by the imam Abdelbaki Es Satty, were plotting to carry out attacks with explosives in crowded spots of Barcelona. On August 16, 2017, the house where they were storing the explosives blew up in Alcanar, southern Catalonia, killing Es Satty.

With their leader dead, one of the members of the cell used a van to run over a crowd in Barcelona’s La Rambla boulevard before fleeing with a stolen car, killing 15 in total. He was later killed by police officers. 

Hours later, other members of the group killed one person in a knife attack in Cambrils before being shot dead by police.

The three suspects on trial did not take part in any of the attacks, but are accused of being part of the terrorist cell or having some connection with it.