Efe Madrid

Madrid

Updated Friday, March 22, 2024-14:39

  • Courts The Court releases the retiree who sent letters with explosives to President Sánchez and Minister Robles

  • Security They send devices to Sánchez, Robles, the Torrejón base and the American embassy: incendiary substance in brown envelopes, with identical handwriting and sent from Spain

The

Prosecutor's Office

requests 22 years in prison for

Pompeyo González

, the 74-year-old former official of the

Vitoria City Council

detained in Burgos for sending six letters with explosives in 2022 to the President of the Government, the Minister of Defense, the company

Instalaza

in

Zaragoza

, to the embassies of the

United States

and

Ukraine

in Madrid and to the satellite center of the

Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base

(Madrid).

The prosecutor of the National Court

Ana Noé

accuses him of a crime of terrorism (10 years) and another of manufacturing, possession, placement and use of explosive devices (12 years), and also requests a measure of six years of freedom for him. monitored once the prison sentence has been served.

He also demands payment of compensation of 1,500 euros for the Ukrainian embassy worker who was injured while handling the letter that the accused sent there.

"Pompeyo González Pascual, contrary to the support provided to the Ukrainian nation by the Government of Spain, by that of the United States of America, as well as by other institutions based in national territory, with the aim of changing these positions and causing deep commotion in the normal peaceful coexistence of Spanish society" made these artifacts at his home in

Miranda de Ebro

(Burgos), the prosecutor relates in her indictment.

It also considers that the amount of explosive used "and its arrangement in the device would be sufficient to produce injuries of different degrees depending on the proximity and the possible organs affected."

This could occur "both due to the explosion of the substance itself and due to the impact of the incorporated shrapnel (lead pellets) and that produced by the fragmentation of the metal profile due to the confinement of the explosive and other elements used for its manufacture (mainly nuts and bolts). screws )".

Released with precautions

On April 14, the judge in the case,

José Luis Calama

, released this retired official from the Vitoria City Council after almost three months in preventive detention since his arrest in January in Operation

Konvert

("envelope" in Ukrainian).

To guarantee his presence in a future trial, he was obliged to appear every week in the court closest to his home, the prohibition of leaving the country, the withdrawal of his passport and the obligation to establish an address where he could be located.

Between November 18 and 21, 2022, he sent from the city of Burgos the envelope addressed to the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, which was received on November 24 in the Moncloa Palace complex, where it was found that it could contain some type of artifact.

"The security protocol was then activated and the package was controlledly detonated," which contained an explosive charge "of perchlorate/chlorate of pyrotechnic origin and a nitrate-based gunpowder," the letter details.

The explosive device addressed to the Ukrainian ambassador in Spain arrived at the embassy in Madrid on November 30, and upon raising suspicions the security guard "took the box out to the patio."

"When he lifted it a little he saw a rectangular piece of metal with holes on the sides, holding it by what seemed to him to be the activator of an artifact" and, "fearing that this was the case, he threw it towards the ground, at which point it "exploded, causing an open wound on his right hand."

The envelope addressed to the director of the company Instalaza, dedicated to the manufacture of military equipment such as the C90 rocket launcher used by the Ukrainian Army, was received on November 30.

"As it was suspicious because it did not have a postmark or more information about the sender than the Gmail email, and the company was incorrectly named on the envelope, the security employees isolated it in an adjacent warehouse" and when they became aware of the existence of a package A similar bomb sent to the Ukrainian Embassy notified the Civil Guard, which proceeded to its controlled explosion.

The device addressed to the director of the Satellite Center (SATCEN) of the Torrejón de Ardoz air base was received on November 30, 2022 at the Post Office

in

this Madrid town, passing the facility's security scanner and sent for delivery.

"Although, given the similarity of the package with the one that was collected at the Ukrainian Embassy, ​​the security protocol was activated, proceeding to deactivate it," the letter indicates.

Finally, on December 1, an envelope addressed to its owner, Margarita Robles, arrived at the Ministry of Defense.

Controlled detonation

When the package was passed through the scanner "it was confirmed that it contained nails, steel balls, an electronic circuit and organic material, so the emergency protocol was activated", and in an isolated and safe area of ​​​​the building's interior patio, the procedure was carried out. to its controlled detonation.

That same day the sixth shipment arrived, this time addressed to the United States ambassador in Spain, and was detected at noon on the security scanner.

"This gave rise to applying the action protocol, carrying out traffic and people cuts, establishing two police security belts in the surrounding streets, evacuating public establishments and preventing the entry and exit of properties in the area, until the "carried out the deactivation of the device."

The improvised explosive devices of the "postal device" type manufactured by the defendant had similarities in their structure and composition, differing in the type of explosive substance used, indicates the prosecutor.

Some of the elements used in the manufacture of the artifacts were found in the search of his home.

Furthermore, prior to materializing the shipments, she consulted the websites of the Ministry of the Presidency, the company Instalaza and the European Union Satellite Center, and also searched on Google for "Margarita Robles Wikipedia."

On her mobile phone, the prosecutor notes, she also had the Telegram, RT Noticias and Sputnik applications installed, "the latter two official applications from the government media of the Russian Federation. As well as the Sputnik VPN application, focused on 'falsifying' the geolocation of the user".

He also made queries on the Internet such as "if the gunpowder is wrapped with nails it can explode" and "if the gunpowder is not mixed well it can cause it to not ignite."

Also about package bombs and steel pipes, or about "how much does a liter of uranium weigh", "learn Russian in 10 days", "where tanks are manufactured in Spain" and "latest videos of the Ukrainian war".

During the month of July 2022, it carried out various consultations on homemade potassium nitrate, gunpowder fuses and firecracker stores.