The man of Pakistani origin who attacked with an ax a McDonald’s establishment in the Mágic shopping center in Badalona (Barcelona) on March 27, 2024, accepted that the prison sentence with which he was content be immediately expelled from Spain for a period of ten years.
This was the agreement concluded by the accused, Hamza Waris28 years old, with the Prosecutor’s Office before the trial which took place this Wednesday at the National Court.
During a brief hearing, the president of the court, Alfonso Guevara, asked him if he was satisfied with the modification of the sentencing request that the prosecution had communicatedwhich went from four years and six months in prison to three years and eight months for the offense of damage for terrorist purposes, as well as compensation of 7,602 euros to the company for damage caused to the premises.
He also proposed to submit it to probation for five years after serving his prison sentence, as well as a sentence of prohibition from exercising employment or an educational profession and a fine of 120 euros, although when the accused asked the Pakistani interpreter the amount of the fine, Guevara reminded him that he was insolvent.
In any case, the prosecution, in exchange for its recognition of the facts, also raised replace the prison sentence with an expulsion order from Spain, where he will not be able to return for a period of 10 years.
Asked by the president of the court if he accepted be expelled immediatelythe accused answered in the affirmative, thus avoiding serving the prison sentence.
According to the prosecution in its provisional conclusions, which it only modified with regard to the requested sentence, Warris planned the attack on the McDonald’s. given Israel’s reaction to the Hamas attack on October 7 2023, the date on which it intensified and focused its activity around the Palestinian cause “in a radical and violent dimension”.
Waris, in temporary prison since March 29, 2024 – where he entered two days after the attack – had considered settling in Palestine to make jihadalthough, given the obstacles encountered, he decided to carry out a “violent action” in Barcelona and attack a McDonald’s store.
From then on, the person indicted began a process of self-indoctrination through the consumption of multimedia content on the Palestinian cause and carried out multiple investigations into terrorist organizations such as Islamic State or Daeshas well as fighters who fought for jihad.
In addition, he conducted Internet searches on how to handle a sniper rifle, how to handle a Kalashnikov or how to quickly reload its magazine, as well as research on death, paradise and martyrdom.
On March 27, 2024, the accused “recorded a farewell video” which he sent to his brother, tied a Palestinian scarf, took an ax from his backpack and began to knock on the windows of the premises “causing the terrified fleeing of the people, adults and children who were there, provoking a climate of collective terror and hysteria.”
He was overpowered by a citizen and shortly after, he told a police officer: “This morning I saw on Facebook that Palestinian children died in the hands of the Israelis and since the Americans support them, that’s why I went to destroy the McDonald’s, because He’s American.”
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