Posted on 04/27/2005 9:28:58 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick
A court in India has sentenced to death seven men convicted of attacking the American cultural centre in Calcutta in January 2002. Those convicted include Aftab Ahmed Ansari, who the judge said had planned the attack in which five policemen were killed and nearly 20 others injured.
Two other men were acquitted for lack of evidence.
The attack heightened tensions in South Asia, coming just weeks after a bloody raid on India's parliament.
India accused Pakistan of having a link to both attacks which was strongly denied by Islamabad.
Although India still supports the death penalty it is rarely carried out.
Appeals
On Tuesday, the special court in Calcutta had found the seven men guilty of the attack.
Tight security at the US Calcutta consulate after the attack
The verdict came after 300 court hearings involving 123 prosecution witnesses and three defence witnesses over the past three years.
Their defence lawyer, Syed Shahid Imam, said they would appeal against the verdict in a higher court.
Judge Basudev Majumdar, who headed the special court, said the men had been found guilty of "waging war against the legally constituted government of India", murder and several other offences.
The special court was set up inside a jail in Calcutta after intelligence reports suggested that Ansari might try to escape while on his way to the court.
Ansari was arrested in Dubai and later extradited to India to stand trial.
Hang 'em high.
India is becoming a better ally every day. Keep it up!
Excellent! Of course, the EU is appalled.
I thought the US was the only "civilized" nation to have the death penalty....
Just last year, a high profile rapist was hanged to death in India, after about ten years of trials. Death sentences are rare in India, and they happen only after lengthy trials and several appeals.
At the very end, India's president has a say in whether the criminal must be pardoned or not. Usually the criminal is not.
Wait, are you tellin' me these guys were muslim? That is the religion of peace, how is this possible?
Wonder how they execute? I already know how they
conduct interrogations...
The nasty noose.
At the very end, India's president has a say in whether the criminal must be pardoned or not. Usually the criminal is not.
The Indian president himself is a muslim but he is undoubtedly more patriotic than most leftie/commie politicians and media folks are. If these scum escape their deserving death penalty, it'd only be because of politicians/human rights folks... am sure Dr.Kalaam (the prez) will not pardon them.
-India
-Poland
-Turkey, until relatively recently.
Then you'd have to include all the other nations where a majority of the population favors capital punishment, e.g. France, England, among other West. European nations, but the will of the people is thwarted by unelected Eurocrats.
dude, if I were you, I'd count Turkey out.. there is a simmering anti-Americanism fuelled by Islamo-fascism beneath their "secular" exterior.
In order to placate the ultra-nationalist, "grey wolves" faction of their constituency, they've went out out of their way to mitigate any potential negative fallout from recently enacted democratic reforms, e.g. granting more autonomy to the Kurds, improving upon an anachronistic legal system, attempting to extricate their country from N. Cyprus, etc., by pandering to base anti-Americanism.
It may help them solidify their electoral alliance-and ease qualms about their religious fervor-but it is no way to run a regional superpower.
Even their most recent decision to continue the Turkish-American military cooperation-such as it is-doesn't really impress me.
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