All of Spain and much of the world was waiting to see the sentences handed down against those accused of murdering 191 people and wounding more than 1,800 in the March 11, 2004, bombing of Madrid commuter trains. This morning Spain’s National Court handed down sentences stretching to tens of thousands of years to three men. The court found 18 others guilty of lesser charges related to the attacks, such as belonging to a terrorist organization.

The prosecution was looking for heaver sentences all around. The five month trial, a five month dance that included 29 defendants, 40 lawyers and 350 witnesses, had already seen one defendant released for lack of evidence.

Jamal Zougam, a 34-year old Moroccan who witnesses saw on one of the fated trains, was sentenced to tens of thousand of years in prison for charges that included murder, attempted murder and belonging to an “armed group.” Emilio Suarez Trashorras, 30, ws sentenced to thousands of years in jail for his role as a “necessary accomplice.” Mr. Suarez, a former miner from northern Spain, supplied the stolen dynamite used in the bombings in exchange for drugs.Rabei Osman, accused of being one of the organizers of the attacks was aquitted.

Via / New York Times