2017 terror attack suspects to be tried for terrorism but not murder

Three suspects under investigation for their part in the terror attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils on August 17, 2017, which left 16 people dead, will not be charged with murder, Spain's National Court said on Tuesday.

Announcing that the pre-trial procedures had been completed, the court said there was not enough evidence to attribute a direct role to the three men in the deaths of the victims who died in the attacks in the Catalan capital and the nearby seaside town.

Mohamed Houli Chemlal and Driss Oukabir will be charged with belonging to a terrorist organization and with making and possessing explosives and other terrorist materials, while Said Ben Iazza is accused of collaborating with a terrorist organization.

Mohamed Houli Chemlal and Driss Oukabir were arrested after the attacks and have been in preventive detention since August 2017, while Said Ben Iazza has been in custody since September of the same year.

The attacks were orchestrated by a jihadi group based Ripoll, under the town's imam Abdelbaki Es Satty, who died with other members in an accidental explosion in an apartment in Alcanar on the eve of the attacks. The other members were shot dead by police.

Victims' associations and a Catalan police union bringing accusations have 10 days to present their allegations that the suspects should be charged with murder because while not being directly involved in the attacks, they knew about the group's intentions.