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CRIME

Spain jails letterbomb suspect to avoid ‘flight to Russia’

The pensioner who allegedly sent letter bombs to Spain's prime minister and the Ukrainian embassy was placed in pre-trial detention on Friday on grounds he could flee to "Russian territory".

Spain jails letterbomb suspect to avoid 'flight to Russia'
Spanish police stand guard near the US embassy in Madrid, on December 1, 2022, after they have received a letter bomb, similar to one which went off at the Ukrainian embassy. Photo: OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP

The 74-year-old, arrested on Wednesday at his home near the northern town of Burgos, appeared before a judge at the Audiencia Nacional, Spain’s top criminal court, facing one charge of terrorism, court documents showed.

He is accused of having sent six letter bombs to targets including Spanish ministers and embassies to push Madrid into halting support for Kyiv in the fight against Russia’s invasion.

READ ALSO: Spain detains suspect over letter bombs sent to PM, Ukraine embassy

The home-made devices were sent in late November and early December to Spain’s prime minister and defence minister, the Ukrainian and US embassies, the European Union Satellite Centre near Madrid and to a Spanish arms manufacturer in the northeastern city of Zaragoza.

In his ruling, the judge said the suspect sought to “force” the Spanish authorities to “refrain from supporting Ukraine in the face of Russia’s aggression”, which made him a flight risk.”

The importance of his violent actions as a means of propaganda for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could facilitate his flight to Russian territory with help from Russian citizens,” the judge concluded

If convicted, the suspect could face up to 20 years in jail on terror offences.

But the judge said there were no indications of his involvement “with any other terrorist group.”

Nobody was killed by the devices but a Ukrainian embassy staffer sustained light injuries while opening one of the packages.

At the suspect’s home, investigators found a workshop containing soldering equipment, tools, metal parts and screws compatible with the letter bombs sent, and indications of preparatory work to construct more, the interior ministry said.

A Russian-directed operation?

The suspect was “very active on social networks” and had “technical and computer expertise”, it said.

Investigators had determined the letters were sent by the same person and found three of them were posted from Burgos, the ministry added.

They then narrowed it down by an “exhaustive analysis” of the stamps, envelopes and parts used to build the devices.

The suspect’s arrest followed a New York Times report which said Russian military intelligence officers had “directed” associates of a Russia-based white supremacist group to carry out the campaign in Spain.

Investigators suspect the radical Russian Imperial Movement (RIM) — which is thought to have ties to Russian intelligence and has associates across Europe — is behind the letter bomb campaign.

“Important members of the group have been in Spain and the police there have tracked its ties with far-right Spanish organisations,” the newspaper said.

After the embassy attack, Ukraine’s ambassador to Spain, Serhii Pohoreltsev, pointed the finger at Russia and Kyiv ramped up security at its embassies around the world.

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CRIME

Spain pushes Catholic Church to compensate abuse victims

Spain's left-wing government on Tuesday upped the pressure on the Catholic Church to compensate victims of sexual abuse committed on its watch.

Spain pushes Catholic Church to compensate abuse victims

Unlike in other nations, clerical abuse allegations have only recently started to gain traction in Spain, once a deeply Catholic country which has become increasingly secular.

Six months ago, a first-ever official report estimated that more than 400,000 people had suffered sexual abuse by the clergy and other lay people, proposing a compensation fund be set up — but the Church declined to participate.

“I don’t think anyone would understand if the Spanish Church did not proceed as others did in countries like Ireland, France, Belgium or the United States,” said Justice Minister Felix Bolanos, referring to nations where the Church had compensated victims.

The government, he said, had “initiated such conversations with the Catholic Church so that it would meet the cost of compensating the victims of sexual abuse committed within its ambit”.

Bolanos outlined details of a plan adopted by ministers at Tuesday’s weekly cabinet which includes recommendations laid out in an October report by a commission of independent experts working under the Spanish ombudsman.

This included the creation of a state compensation fund for victims – an idea backed by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

“We would like to work with the Catholic Church,” Bolaños said, stressing that the Church had “for decades failed to offer an adequate response.

READ ALSO: How Catholic are Spaniards nowadays?

Spain’s Catholic Church has ruled out taking part in such a fund if was only for compensating victims of ecclesiastical abuse, and not to abuse victims in any setting.

“The Church cannot accept a plan that discriminates against the majority of victims of sexual abuse,” the CEE Episcopal Conference, which groups Spain’s leading bishops, said Tuesday.

The CEE had in March approved its own “comprehensive compensation plan” for victims but did not give details about how or when it would be implemented, nor did it give figures.

Victims groups have denounced the Church’s opacity and its failure to offer any reparations.

The ombudsman’s report said more than 200,000 minors had been sexually abused in Spain by Roman Catholic clergy since 1940.

READ ALSO: Spain’s Catholic bishops apologise after report of 200,000 abused

That figure rose to more than 400,000 when abuse by associated Church figures, known as lay members, was included — equal to 1.13 percent of Spain’s adult population of 39 million.

The CEE expressed doubt about the “dubious reliability” of the figures, pointing to an audit it commissioned from law firm Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo which found some 2,056 minors were abused by the clergy.

A few days after the audit was released, the CEE published its own report which was nearly 1,000 pages long, with figures which were even lower.

In its latest update on March 2, it said it had counted 1,057 “registered cases” of sexual abuse, of which only 358 had been “proven” or were “plausible” while another 60 were under investigation.

READ ALSO: Spanish Catholic Church suspends priest accused of selling Viagra

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