| Monday, January 15, 2007 |
| Now, Afzal’s family pinning hopes on President |
On Saturday, a day after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence on Mohammad Afzal, key accused in the Parliament attack case, his family members said their last hope is the President of India.
The Supreme Court had upheld the death sentence on Friday, saying Afzal’s curative petition had no merit. The curative petition was his last legal option.
A four-judge Bench of the apex court concluded the death sentence was an appropriate sentence for the attack on India’s Parliament. “There is no merit in the curative petition,” the Bench stated in its order finding no infirmity in the judgment.
The Supreme Court also rejected a plea by Shaukat Hussain, another man accused in the case, who sought a review of his 10-years jail sentence.
Afzal was given the death sentence by the Supreme Court after he was convicted in 2005 of providing logistical support to terrorists who stormed the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001.
All five militants involved in the attack were gunned down by the Indian security forces guarding the Parliament. Six policemen and a Parliament employee were also killed in the exchange of fire.
The mercy petition of Afzal, a resident of India-administered Kashmir, is now with the President. His family said they had little hope, anyway, on the outcome of the curative petition.
Tabasum, Afzal’s wife, said: “We were certain that the petition will be rejected. He never got a good lawyer in the Sessions Court. Hence it is quite natural that the Supreme Court would reject the curative petition.”
Commented Ghulam Mohammed, Afzal’s father-in-law: “We failed to get a good defence lawyer for Afzal. That is why he failed to build a strong case in his favour in both the trial and Sessions court. There were a lot of other reasons. The mercy plea now lies with the President. We hope that the President will take a good look at it.”Labels: Society |
| posted by a correspondent @ 7:45 AM |
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