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Two
defendants, a Spaniard and a Moroccan, face charges of belonging
to a terrorist organisation, manufacturing and storing
explosives, and attempting to cause widespread destruction,
according to court documents.
On Aug 17, 2017, a single attacker drove a rented van into
crowds on Las Ramblas, causing 14 deaths and injuring over a
hundred people.
The driver of the van also killed another person during his
getaway.
Five militants later drove a car into a crowd in the coastal
resort of Cambrils and used knives to attack bystanders, killing
a woman and injuring several others, before being shot dead by
police. Officers also killed the Barcelona attacker a few days
later.
All charges relate to an accidental explosion on the eve of the
attack which occurred in Alcanar, southwest of Barcelona, where
explosives and gas canisters had been stored, but not to the
Barcelona rampage itself, so the prosecutor does not accuse the
suspects of murder.
Others suspected of being linked to the cell, including the imam
who reportedly was the mastermind of the attacks, died in the
Alcanar blast.
Prosecutors are seeking jail terms of 41 and 36 years for two of
the accused and eight years for another Moroccan national who is
accused of being an accomplice. They have been in prison pending
trial since their arrests in 2017 in connection with the blast.
(Reporting by Emma Pinedo; Editing by Ingrid Melander and Raissa
Kasolowsky)
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