"Let them fuck the Sagrada Família, let them destroy it, a bomb and the Sagrada Família!". That was the intense ardour expressed in a meeting on July 19th, 2018 in Barcelona's Passeig Lluís Companys by one of the members of the jihadist cell that set its sights on attacking several targets in Barcelona not long after the attacks in the Rambla in August 2017. Spain's National Audience has this Friday sentenced four members of the cell, part of the militant Islamic State organization, to prison terms of between 8 and 10 years for belonging to or leading a terrorist group.
Four members of the group were sentenced to prison after their intention to attack several targets in Barcelona was considered proven: tourist sites such as the Sagrada Família, but also Russian targets such as several yachts under Russian ownership in the port of Barcelona. In fact, one of the members of the cell worked at the Catalan capital's port. It is considered proven by the court that the terrorists were "willing to act in Barcelona" and had already been trained "in the preparation of explosives and the handling of other types of weapons".
According to the sentence, the members of the terror group directed their efforts at the capture of "lone wolves" in order to carry out the attacks. According to the sentence, one of the members of the cell, the 43-year-old Algerian Omar Neggazi (alias Brahim) had hinted to the rest that he was ready to attack the Sagrada Família temple because he was convinced that before the age of 45 he would be dead. Neggazi's firm convictions contributed to the idea that he was willing to immolate himself because he defended that a martyr's corpse does not rot: "[martyrs] are alive and supported by their Lord."
Neggazi was part of the cell in the Catalan capital led by another Algerian, Rabah Hadjeras (alias Rabeh), who received the longest sentence, 10 years' prison. According to the judgment, Hadjeras called the meetings that were held in Barcelona to train the members of the cell in the radical Salafi ideology: "He supplied propaganda material of a jihadist nature suitable for consumption by the members of the cell and third parties, imposed rules of conduct and safety measures, distributed work and set objectives". These meetings could take place on the Mar Bella breakwater, on Passeig Lluís Companys or inside a bar in El Born ("Bar de la china", according to the court sentence).
Images of Puigdemont and Felipe VI in Daesh propaganda material
During the training meetings, the members of the cell had access to Daesh propaganda material, including videos showing images of the Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and the Spanish king Felipe VI paying tribute to the victims of the 2017 attacks in Barcelona. These images and all the material were used to encourage further attacks.
The sentence also reveals further details about the intentions of the attack against the Sagrada Família and other targets. On July 26th, 2017, Neggazi spoke by phone with another member of the cell and argued in favour of attacking the temple: "When it comes to force majeure and in case of defending ourselves, everything must be done (. ..) they are the ones who are attacking us, and not [the other way round]". At the behest of Isis, the leader of the cell had also expressed a will to attack Russian targets in Barcelona, expressing further particular hatred against them: "I hate them [referring to Russian tourists sitting on a terrace] , if I had a Kalashnikov I would shoot them and kill more than 60."