Spanish court charges parcel bomb suspect with terrorism offences

A Spanish judge has charged a 74-year-old man suspected of sending several parcel bombs targeting government, diplomatic and defence industry institutions in late 2022 with two counts of aggravated terrorism, a high court document showed on Tuesday.

Pompeyo Gonzalez Pascual was arrested in January after allegedly sending six parcels with homemade explosives addressed to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Defence Minister Margarita Robles, the embassies of Ukraine and the United States in Madrid, an air force base and a weapons manufacturer between Nov. 24 and Dec. 2 of last year.

Most were defused, although a security employee at the Ukrainian embassy was slightly injured when one detonated.

Investigating magistrate Jose Luis Calama, speaking in the High Court in Madrid, said the two charges of terrorism and manufacturing explosive devices for terrorist purposes were warranted even if there was no evidence that Gonzalez belonged to or colluded with an organised terrorist group.

Read more: Reuters