Disciplinary panel to investigate Spain judge in release of Madrid bombing suspect News
Disciplinary panel to investigate Spain judge in release of Madrid bombing suspect

[JURIST] The disciplinary committee of Spain's General Judicial Council said Wednesday that it will investigate why Spanish judge Juan Del Olmo [Europa Press profile, in Spanish] failed to apply for an extension of the detainment of a suspect in the March 11, 2004 Madrid train bombings [JURIST news archive]. As a result of Del Olmo's failure to ask for the extension, a High Court judge was forced to release [JURIST report] Saed El Harrak [BBC profile] last month, though he must check in with authorities twice a day and remain in Madrid indefinitely. Harrak is one of the 29 suspects indicted for the bombings [JURIST report], and he is charged with collaborating with a terrorist organization, accusations stemming from telephone calls he made before the bombings to other suspects accused of carrying out the attacks.

Del Olmo may have suffered from bad health when he made the mistake not to apply for the extension, and was replaced by another High Court judge soon thereafter. He has said the mistake was due to a typing error [AP report]. Reuters has more.

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