Spanish pensioner gets 18 years for letter bomb campaign

Pompeyo González Pascual had denied the charges against him

A 76-year-old retired Spanish civil servant who sent six letters containing explosives in 2022 in a bid to stop Madrid supplying arms to Ukraine has been given an 18-year jail term.

Pompeyo González Pascual was detained in the northern town of Miranda de Ebro in January last year.

Spain's top criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, found him guilty of sending devices to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the US and Ukrainian ambassadors, Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles, arms company Instalaza and the EU's satellite centre near Madrid.

He was handed a 10-year term for terrorism and a further eight years for preparing and placing explosives for terrorist purposes.

A Ukrainian embassy employee was lightly wounded by one of the devices, while the other five were dealt with by security services in November and December 2022.

González denied the charges against him, but the judges said trial had been shown considerable evidence confirming his guilt.

All the components for his letter bombs had been bought online, the court heard, and the devices were sent in wooden boxes with identical packaging and labels. Police had also observed him disposing of various metallic fragments and matches in the days before his arrest.

Some of the matches had the phosphorus scraped off and the chemical was used as part of the explosive for some of the devices, the court heard. DNA evidence from the stamps and envelopes was also found matching the profile of the accused.

Analysis of his phone and computer indicated he had visited the prime minister's and defence minister's websites and had conducted internet searches on the risk of jail terms for the elderly as well as Russian entry requirements for foreigners.

Two Russian state media apps were found on his mobile phone which were at the time difficult to access in Spain because of an EU ban on disinformation from the Russian state.

Spain's Socialist prime minister has promised to provide Ukraine with support "for as long as it takes" including €1bn of military aid in 2024. Madrid has sent Leopard tanks and anti-aircraft missiles, although in real terms it lags behind other EU countries.

The court said González had sought to "cause a great commotion in Spanish society that would exert pressure so the governments of Spain and the US and other entities based on Spanish territory would stop supporting Ukraine".

The explosives used had been sufficient to cause injuries of varying severity both from the blast and the shrapnel that González had added to the letter bombs, the court heard.