|
MUMBAI: Two Indian judges on Monday confirmed
the death sentence for the sole surviving gunman of
the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which 10 militants laid
siege to the city, killing 166 people.
The Bombay High Court
dismissed the claim by Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab
that he was wrongfully convicted of taking part in
the attacks. The judges also threw out the state’s
appeal against a lower court’s decision to acquit
two Indian nationals accused of providing hand-drawn
maps to the 10 gunmen.
Kasab, who did not
attend the appeal for security reasons but was able
to follow proceedings via video link, looked at the
floor as the judgment was handed down, local TB
channel said. “Harsh penalty of death is required in
some cases, especially this one, and the court would
be sending a wrong signal to society if any penalty
less than death were given,” judges Ranjana Desai
and R V More said in their ruling.
“Kasab has never
shown any remorse after his arrest and we have
observed that even on video conference he has not
shown any signs of regret,” they added. The
23-year-old was found guilty last May of a string of
offences, including waging war against India,
murder, attempted murder and terrorist acts after a
trial at a maximum security prison court in Mumbai.
In the appeal, which
began last October, Kasab’s legal team asked for a
retrial, arguing that his trial lawyer was not given
sufficient time to wade through the 11,000-page
charge-sheet before the case began.
They also claimed
that prosecution evidence and witnesses were
manipulated. Under Indian law, death sentence cases
have to be referred to the local state high court.
The judges can uphold the sentence, reduce it, order
a retrial or overturn the conviction.
Kasab has a further
right of appeal to the Supreme Court in New Delhi
and as a last resort to India’s president for
clemency. One of his lawyers, Farhana Shah, told
reporters outside court: “We will inform Kasab of
his legal rights. Kasab has to decide. If he wishes
(to appeal) he can do so.”
Prosecutor Ujjwal
Nikam flashed a victory sign on the court steps and
described the judgment as a “historic verdict”.
“Truth has prevailed,” he said. “We appealed to the
court that this was the rarest of rare cases and
that he should be hanged, which the court approved.”
India’s home minister
P Chidambaram said the verdict was “a tribute to our
legal system” and contrasted it with the trial of
the alleged masterminds in Pakistan, where he said
there had been “no movement at all”.Prithviraj
Chavan, the chief minister of Maharashtra state,
also called on Pakistan to prosecute those
responsible.
|
