New Delhi: The trial of 29 people accused of involvement in train bombings that killed 191 people in March 2004 began in the Spanish Capital, Madrid on Thursday.
Seven of the suspects, most of them of Moroccan origin, will face charges of murder and belonging to a terrorist group inspired by al-Qaeda.
The other 22 face charges including collaborating with a terrorist group and handling explosives.
More than 1,700 people were injured in the multiple bomb attacks, which targeted four Madrid rush-hour trains.
Seven lead defendants face possible jail terms of 30 years for each of the 191 killings and 18 years apiece for 1,820 attempted murders. But under Spanish law the maximum time anyone can serve for a terrorist conviction is 40 years. There is no death penalty in Spain.
The attack – involving 10 backpack bombs that ripped through four packed commuter trains - has been called modern Spain's most traumatic event since the Civil War of the 1930s.
The trial marks the culmination of a lengthy probe, which concluded that the attack was carried out by a homegrown cell of Muslim extremists angry about the then-conservative Spanish government's support for the Iraq war.
The cell was inspired by al-Qaeda but had no direct links to it, nor did it receive financing from Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization, Spanish investigators say.
The proceedings will be held under tight security at a trade fair pavilion because the premises of the National Court, which handles terrorism cases, were deemed too small. Testimony is expected to last more than five months and a verdict is expected late October.
With Agency inputs
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