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Mohammed Afzal files mercy plea
The earlier clemency petition was filed by his wife.
BY CORRESPONDENT
November 11, 2006
Mohammed Afzal, facing execution for aiding a militant attack on parliament back in year 2001 has filed a mercy petition to the President APJ Kalam. A separate mercy petition had already been filed by Afzal's wife.
Afzal’s execution had been scheduled for last month but was put off for the President taking a decision on this. Kashmir had been witnessing violent protests over the past few weeks against the court order to hang Afzal. The 39-year-old’s conviction was upheld in a ruling by the Supreme Court last year and was due to be hanged on 20 October in Tihar Jail in Delhi. If
Mohammed Afzal is executed, he will be the second Kashmiri to be hanged for separatist activities.
History says that in 1984, the founder leader of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Mohammad Maqbool Bhat, was hanged on charges of killing an Indian intelligence official.
It may be recalled here that the December 2001 attack on the Parliament was one of the most controversial incidents in recent Indian history. Five gunmen shot dead nine people in the parliament grounds, before being killed. Mohammed Afzal was one of two men sentenced to death. But the punishment for Shaukat Hussain was later reduced to 10 years in jail on appeal. Two other accused in the case, SAR Geelani and Afsan Guru, were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
The responsibility of the attack was placed on the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group, allegedly aided by neighbour and rival nation Pakistan. Though Pakistan had denied involvement in the attack, relations between the two countries further deteriorated since the attack.
With the President’s decision awaited on Afzal’s fate, there are bound to be more requests to the government for and against Afzal. Any mercy plea filed to the President is passed to the Home Ministry and then to the Union Cabinet. The Cabinet then conveys its recommendations to the President. As per law, a convict facing death sentence cannot be hanged till his or her mercy petition is rejected.
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