Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Madrid terror trial will dig at deep wounds for survivors and mourners - International Herald Tribune
Jesus Abril lost his teenage son in a maelstrom of dynamite and shrapnel in the Madrid train bombings of 2004. As 29 suspects in the attack go on trial Thursday, Abril is seeking a semblance of closure so he can grieve in peace.
Abril, a former teacher, is eager to learn more about the motives of the attackers. His 19-year-old son, Oscar, was on one of four crowded commuter trains ripped open by bombs that March 11 morning by suspected Islamic militants as he traveled to a university.
"It's the only way we the victims can mourn in peace, although I am aware that the damage caused to us will never be repaired. Nobody is going to bring back our loved ones," said Abril, who is 54. "You go through the rest of your life feeling you have been stabbed with a dagger."
...
For 31-year-old Laura Jimenez, who lost the baby she was carrying and was left paralyzed in the attack, the prospect of taking the stand is simply too much.
She is resigned to accepting that fate placed her on one of the doomed trains that day and she will never know why. And she questions whether she will ever know for sure if the suspects on trial are really the ones behind the attack.
Lawyers want her to testify. But she says her pain is still too raw and seeing the suspects will do her no good.
"Why should I go? To tell people that I've been left in a wheelchair? People see that by themselves. I have nothing to say," Jimenez said.
Of the suspects, she said: "I don't hate them. To me they are like nonexistent entities." ...
Jesus Abril lost his teenage son in a maelstrom of dynamite and shrapnel in the Madrid train bombings of 2004. As 29 suspects in the attack go on trial Thursday, Abril is seeking a semblance of closure so he can grieve in peace.
Abril, a former teacher, is eager to learn more about the motives of the attackers. His 19-year-old son, Oscar, was on one of four crowded commuter trains ripped open by bombs that March 11 morning by suspected Islamic militants as he traveled to a university.
"It's the only way we the victims can mourn in peace, although I am aware that the damage caused to us will never be repaired. Nobody is going to bring back our loved ones," said Abril, who is 54. "You go through the rest of your life feeling you have been stabbed with a dagger."
...
For 31-year-old Laura Jimenez, who lost the baby she was carrying and was left paralyzed in the attack, the prospect of taking the stand is simply too much.
She is resigned to accepting that fate placed her on one of the doomed trains that day and she will never know why. And she questions whether she will ever know for sure if the suspects on trial are really the ones behind the attack.
Lawyers want her to testify. But she says her pain is still too raw and seeing the suspects will do her no good.
"Why should I go? To tell people that I've been left in a wheelchair? People see that by themselves. I have nothing to say," Jimenez said.
Of the suspects, she said: "I don't hate them. To me they are like nonexistent entities." ...
Labels: grief
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