Reuters AlertNet Lite - Spain could force-feed Madrid bombing accused

Reuters AlertNet Full site

NEWSDESK

Spain could force-feed Madrid bombing accused

16 May 2007 13:26:06 GMT
Source: Reuters

MADRID, May 16 (Reuters) - A judge on Wednesday warned suspects on trial for Spain's worst terror attack they will be force fed if necessary as more of the accused went on hunger strike.

Nine suspects joined four already refusing food, a spokeswoman for Spain's Prisons Service said. They are on trial over Islamist bomb attacks on Madrid trains which killed 191 people in 2004.

Four of the accused, three charged with plotting the attack and one with planting explosives, stopped eating on May 10 and said the charges against them were trumped up.

Judge Javier Gomez-Bermudez warned hunger strikers they could be force-fed and told guards to temporarily remove two of the suspects from his Madrid courtroom.

The two, who have also stopped taking liquids, were lying down inside a bullet-proof glass enclosure for the suspects.

"The accused are notified that if they persist with this behaviour they will be expelled temporarily or permanently from the court room hearings and the trial will continue in their absence," Gomez-Bermudez said.

"Additional measures can be ordered, including forced hydration and feeding," he added.

Most of the 29 accused, including all of the hunger-strikers, are from North Africa or the Middle East. Nine are Spaniards. The trial began in February and is expected to last several more weeks.

Prosecutors believe a group linked to al Qaeda carried out the attack, which took place after Spain sent troops to Iraq and triggered the defeat of Spain's then conservative government.

AlertNet news is provided by

Email this article Send comments

Topics

• Food Security

MORE >>

NGO latest

• U.S. Ambassador Visits ADRA Food Security Project in Nicaragua
ADRA - International

• Catholic Relief Services Urges Congress to Make Food Aid More Effective
CRS - USA

• Sudan: Small Things with Great Love
Medair - Switzerland

• The UMCOR Hotline for May 08, 2007
UMCOR - USA

• Welthungerhilfe: situation in southern Sudan also chaotic
Welthungerhilfe (German Agro Action) - Germany

MORE >>

Latest news

• Spain could force-feed Madrid bombing accused

• Smuggled parrots die in Kazakh police custody

• YEMEN: Food price rises could worsen plight of hungry children

• U.S. legislators on $1 meal diet to boost food aid

• Police deactivate explosive in northwest Spain

MORE >>

Last updated:Wed May 16 13:27:17 2007