Brutal Police Deployment for the Jihadist's Statement on the Barcelona Attack

This Thursday, the Congressional committee analyzing the jihadist attacks in Catalonia in August 2017 will conduct the interrogation of Mohamed Houli Chemlal. He is one of those sentenced for these attacks. The events resulted in 16 people dead and 140 injured.

For his appearance, Chemlal will be present in the room with handcuffs, which will require a large security operation with armed officers. Meanwhile, there is Houli Chemlal, who is serving a 43-year sentence in Córdoba prison.

Initially, he was going to appear via videoconference, although it was ultimately decided that he would do so in person. For this, he will do so with the necessary security measures required by the case.

For his intervention before the committee, a special security operation has been arranged, according to parliamentary sources indicated to Europa Press. In the room, Mohamed Houli Chemlal will be monitored at all times by four officers. Two of them dressed in civilian clothes and the other two in uniform.

Mohamed Houli Chemlal will not occupy the usual place of the witnesses in the committee, which is located next to the members of the Board. Instead, he will be placed at a separate table, facing the commissioners and with his back turned to the Board.

The members of the parliamentary groups must leave the first row in front of the witness empty so that two plainclothes officers can occupy it. Meanwhile, a pair of uniformed police officers will position themselves at the back of the Prim Room, where the session will take place. Exceptionally, these officers will be allowed to carry weapons during the appearance.

In November 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the sentence of Houli Chemlal, who survived the explosion in Alcanar (Tarragona), which occurred just before the attacks. In that explosion, Abdelbaky Es Satty, considered the leader of the attacks and the imam of Ripoll (Girona), died.

The material perpetrators of the attacks died in the events, so only Houli Chemlal and two other collaborators were tried. The National Court determined that they were not aware of the plans for the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils (Tarragona). Therefore, they were convicted of belonging to a terrorist organization, possession of explosives, terrorist havoc, and 29 counts of injuries related to the explosion in Alcanar.

Initially, the National Court's sentence had imposed 53 and a half years of imprisonment on Houli. However, after an appeal, the sentence was reduced to 43 years, a decision that was confirmed by the Supreme Court.