NEW DELHI, 4 October 2006 — Tabassum, the wife of convicted terrorist Mohammed Afzal Guru, yesterday filed a mercy petition with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Afzal is facing execution on Oct. 20 after he was found guilty of involvement in the Dec. 13, 2001 militant attack on India’s Parliament. The attack left at least 14 people dead.
Afzal’s family and rights groups say the punishment is too harsh and the verdict was based on a “shoddy investigation” into the attack.
The Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir has been rocked by protests since authorities in September set the date for Afzal’s execution.
S.A.R. Geelani, who also was accused in the case but was freed by the Supreme Court, said: “The basis of the mercy petition is that he hasn’t got a fair trial.”
Several rights groups have criticized Afzal’s conviction, saying he was not provided with a lawyer of choice in the trial court and the Delhi High Court, which heard his appeal.
When the case moved to the Supreme Court, it upheld the high court verdict, although it noted there was no evidence that Afzal, a surrendered militant, was a member of any terrorist organization.
The Supreme Court also criticized investigators for fabricating some of the evidence and acquitted two others accused in the case.
The Society for the Protection of Detainee’s and Prisoner’s Rights, a New Delhi-based rights group, released copies of letters written by Afzal, claiming he made confessions under duress.
In his letter, Afzal said police in Kashmir detained his brother for months and threatened to kill his wife and four-year-old son.
“How can you hang someone on the basis of such shoddy investigation?” Geelani said at a news conference. “If Afzal is hanged to death, it would be a stigma on Indian democracy.”
Afzal’s lawyer, N.D. Pancholi, who was also present at the news conference, said: “The court had stated that police had fabricated evidence and forged documents against Afzal. The court had also said that Afzal was not a member of any terrorist organization and there was no direct evidence to prove his involvement in the Parliament attack case. We only want justice for someone who did not get a fair trial.”
Kashmiri separatist leaders have warned that hanging Afzal could derail the fragile peace process between India and Pakistan aimed at settling a decades-old dispute over Kashmir.
India and Pakistan control separate portions of the Himalayan territory, but both claim it in its entirety.
— Additional input from agencies
