Barcelona attack 2017: Suspected accomplices go on trial

The trial of three suspected Islamist militants accused of helping the perpetrators of a double jihadist attack in 2017 began on Tuesday at Spain’s National Court in San Fernando de Henares near Madrid.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the double attack in Barcelona and the resort town of Cambrils, resort 100 kilometres (60 miles) further south. The attacks left 16 people dead and a further 140 wounded.  

Two of the defendants are accused of belonging to the jihadist cell. The third is on trial for collaborating with the group. Prosecutors have not yet charged the three men with direct responsibility for the attacks.

"We want transparency, we need to know the truth about what happened so that it does not happen again, because until now there has been a lot of murkiness," Spanish news agency EFE cited Cambrils mayor Cami Mendoza as saying.

What happened in the 2017 attack?

On August 17, a man drove a rented van into the crowd on Barcelona’s central La Rambla boulevard, killing 14, among them two children aged three and seven.

Another man died when the attacker went on the run. Several hours later, a woman was stabbed in a second attack in Cambrils and died of her injuries. Police shot dead five of the alleged perpetrators.

Read more:Opinion: France's difficult struggle against Islamism 

What are the charges?

Prosecutors are seeking a 41-year prison term for Mohamed Houli Chemlal, who is on trial for belonging to a jihadist group and for the manufacture and possession of explosives.

Driss Oukabir, 31, whose brother was one of the attackers, rented the van used to ram into the crowds and is facing the same charges. Prosecutors are calling for 36 years imprisonment.

Chemlal, 23, told investigators the group had been planning attacks on Barcelona's iconic Sagrada Familia basilica, the city’s Camp Nou football stadium,as well as the Eiffel Tower in Paris.An accidental explosion at a house in Alcanar, however, pushed them to improvise the August attacks.

Chemlal survived the blast, but it killed 44-year-old Abdelbaki Es Satty. Satty had been an imam and was allegedly responsible for radicalizing the group.

Prosecutors are also wanting an eight-year jail term for Said Ben Iazza, 27, on charges of collaborating with a terror group and giving them his van and ID.

The trial is is expected to run until December 16.

mvb/rt (AFP, EFE, Reuters)