By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch, Middle East Desk

 

SHARJAH, UAE – Seventeen Indians were sentenced to death on March 29 by a Sharjah shariah court for allegedly killing a Pakistani and injuring three others in an attack last year. There is a deadline of two weeks after the pronouncement of judgment within which an appeal has be filed, officials said.

 

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that the Indian consulate officials had visited the 17 Indian men sentenced to death by a court in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates, and offered to help them with legal formalities involved in appealing against their sentences.

In a communication to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the prime minister said he had also instructed the external affairs minister and the overseas Indian affairs minister to take all possible steps in the matter to ensure a positive outcome.

An appeal is likely to be filed tomorrow in UAE on behalf of 17 Indians facing death sentence there for killing a Pakistani. “We have engaged Mhd Salman as the lawyer for these Indians. And an appeal is likely to be filed tomorrow in the case,” officials said.

The UAE government has already made it clear that its legal system guarantees a fair trial and the death sentence is subject to appeal and annulment by the rule of law without any interference from the parties concerned.

“We fully trust our legal system and its procedures and we are sure that it will provide and guarantee a fair trial to the convicted,” the UAE embassy in New Delhi had said in a statement yesterday. There is deep concern over the fate of these Indians, mostly from lower middle class farming families in Punjab and Haryana.

A UAE website claims, “The UAE’s tolerant, cosmopolitan atmosphere – which is most notable in the emirate of Dubai – gives resident non-Emiris opportunities to enjoy their own cultural and religious organizations.”

For more information, please see:

 

Hindustan Times – Death Row Indians In UAE Offered Legal Help: PM – 6 April 2010

The Times of India – Appeal Likely Tomorrow In UAE Against Death Of 17 Indians – 6 April 2010

SIKH Times – UAE Death Sentence Hanging Over 17 Indians – 6 April 2010

Indian Express – Govt Set To Appeal UAE Court Verdict – 6 April 2010