Fjorten av de 29 tiltalte i terrorbombingen av Atocha-stasjonen i Madrid 2004 har innledet sultestreik.
Først gikk fire til sultestreik, og to av dem tar ikke en gang til seg væske. Onsdag fulgte 10 nye. De 14 hevder rettssaken er en skueprosess og at anklagene er falske.
Dommeren sa de vil bli tvangsforet hvis de ikke tar til seg næring.
Ten more defendants in the trial of the 2004 Madrid train bombings have joined a hunger strike to denounce the terrorism charges against them, officials said Wednesday.
There are now 14 defendants participating in the hunger strike, which began last Thursday.
The latest hunger strikers, mostly Moroccan, sent handwritten letters to their respective prisons saying they had joined the protest, prisons department spokeswoman Mar Hedo said. One decided to join his fellow prisoners at lunchtime, she added.
In the morning session of the trial Wednesday, some made gestures from inside the bulletproof chamber where they were sitting to tell the media they were on a hunger strike.
Four defendants began the strike last week to protest what they called unjust accusations against them. Two of the original four hunger strikers are now also refusing to drink anything, Hedo said.
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Twenty-nine people are on trial for the March 11, 2004 attacks, which killed 191 people.Addressing the initial four protesters, Judge Javier Gomez Bermudez on Wednesday warned the trial would not be suspended because of the hunger strike. He added that if they persisted, they could be force fed.
The trial started Feb. 15 and is expected to last at least five months.
AP