2024-07-24 04:18:17
A Spanish court has sentenced a man found guilty of sending six letters containing explosives to Spain’s prime minister and other government, military and diplomatic recipients, including the U.S. and Ukrainian embassies, to 18 years in prison, the Associated Press reported.
Seventy-six-year-old Pompeo Gosales Pascal received 10 years for committing acts of terrorism and eight years for the illegal production and use of explosives for terrorist purposes.
Judges from the National Court ruled that the man had acted “with the aim of… (putting) pressure on the Spanish and American governments… because of their support for Ukraine in the ongoing war with Russia”.
González Pascal, who is a resident of the northern Spanish town of Miranda de Ebro, was arrested in January 2023 after sending packages to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the US and Ukrainian embassies in Madrid in 2022.
An employee at the Ukrainian embassy was slightly injured while opening one of the envelopes.
The six letter bombs were sent in November and December 2022 and required the intervention of explosives disposal experts. One of the letters was destroyed after being sent by regular mail to Sanchez.
Letters with similar characteristics were sent to Spain’s defense ministry, the European Union’s satellite center at the Torrejon de Ardos air base near Madrid, and an arms factory in northeastern Spain that produces grenades for Ukraine, BTA reported.
A letter intercepted at the security post of the US embassy was destroyed by a team of sappers after a wide area in the center of the Spanish capital was cordoned off.