Spain is weak in dealing with terrorism
So much now, in fact, that they acquitted the Madrid bombing mastermind and 4 other terrorists of their crimes, resulting in a grave insult to justice. From the New York Times (via Michelle Malkin):
MADRID — A Spanish court overturned the convictions of four men and upheld the acquittal of a fifth on Thursday in the convoluted legal proceedings relating to the 2004 Madrid commuter train bombings that killed 191 people in the deadliest attacks by Islamic militants on European soil.This is absolutely disgusting, and an insult to the victims of that heinous crime from 4 years ago. It certainly does make it more astonishing that the citizenry of Spain would reelect Zapatero to office about a year ago, as his socialist government is responsible for this kind of judicial incompetence.
The rulings followed appeals of some of the 21 convictions by a lower court after a five-month trial that ended in October. Seven other people were acquitted at that time.
The court on Thursday upheld the acquittal of one of the men suspected of being an architect of the bombing, Rabei Osman, an Egyptian, who was found guilty in 2006 in Italy of belonging to a terrorist organization.
Mr. Osman was arrested in Italy in June 2004, but he disputed prosecution evidence citing wiretaps in which he purportedly said he had conceived the idea of the attacks.
With the bulk of the convictions upheld and few channels of appeal now left available to those sentenced, some survivors said they saw Thursday’s decisions as moving toward the closing of one of the most painful episodes in Spain’s modern history.
