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2017 Barcelona attacks: Spain jails three members of jihadist cell for 8 to 53 years

  • In August 2017, 16 people were killed when a van careered through dense crowds in Barcelona and others were attacked in the coastal resort of Cambrils
  • The trio were also convicted of the manufacture of explosives and attempted terrorist acts

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A Spanish court handed jail terms of between eight and 53 years to three men who helped the jihadists behind the 2017 Barcelona attacks. File photo: AFP
A Spanish court on Thursday sentenced three members of a jihadist cell responsible for attacks in Barcelona in 2017 in which 16 people died and more than 100 were injured to lengthy jail terms.
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Spaniard Mohamed Houli Chemlal and Moroccan Driss Oukabir were handed sentences of 53 and 46 years, respectively, for belonging to a terrorist organisation, manufacturing explosives, attempted terrorist acts and 29 counts of grievous bodily harm.

Prosecutors had sought sentences of 41 years for Houli and 36 years for Oukabir.

The court said the two should not serve more than 20 years of their terms and the sentence can be appealed.

Moroccan Said Ben Iazza, the third member of the group, was sentenced to an eight-year term for collaborating with a terrorist organisation.

The charges related 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 rampage itself.

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