Abolish Death Penalty India: Indian fishermen

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Friday, February 6, 2015

PM Modi thanks Rajapaksa for releasing 5 fishermen who were awarded death sentence

Nov 26, 2014 18:37 IST PTI

Kathmandu: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held a bilateral meeting with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa during which he thanked him for pardoning and sending back five Indian fishermen, who were sentenced to death for alleged drug trafficking. During the meeting, which lasted for nearly 30 minutes, the two leaders discussed important bilateral and regional issues. This is the third meeting between the two leaders since Modi took over as Prime Minister in May.

Mahinda Rajapaksa and Narendra Modi (PTI)

Rajapaksa attended Modi's swearing-in after which they held a bilateral meeting. Later, the two met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September. Asked if Modi thanked him for the release of fishermen, Rajapaksa told PTI that,"I said we must thank Modi for his foreign policy, it (release of fishermen) happened due to that." "The relationship between India and Sri Lanka is very good," he said. Five Indian fishermen sentenced to death in Sri Lanka for alleged drug trafficking were released last week after President Rajapaksa pardoned them.

The fishermen were apprehended in November 2011 and sentenced to death by the Colombo High Court on October 30 for alleged drug trafficking. Rajapaksa commuted the death sentence after Prime Minister Modi had a telephonic conversation with him on the issue. The Sri Lankan leader also welcomed Modi's initiative to develop and launch a satellite dedicated to SAARC. During his address at the 18th SAARC Summit, Modi wished "good luck" to Rajapaksa for the January polls in Sri Lanka. Later, Modi also met Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen during which the two leaders discussed economic ties and maritime cooperation.

Source: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/pm-modi-thanks-rajapaksa-for-releasing-5-fishermen-who-were-awarded-death-sentence-1823163.html [last accessed 06.02.2015]

How Colombo released the fishermen

COLOMBO, November 23, 2014

Updated: November 23, 2014 09:26 IST

Wilson, one of the fishermen freed from death row, was given a rousing reception in Rameswaram on Friday. (PTI) Actor Salman Khan appears to have, perhaps unknowingly, played an indirect role in the release of the five Indian fishermen on death row in Sri Lanka, The Hinduhas learnt. His friend, journalist Rajat Sharma, was in Colombo to invite President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his son Namal Rajapaksa for the wedding of Arpita Khan, the actor’s sister. During the visit Mr. Sharma is said to have raised the issue of the fishermen’s release.

Sri Lanka released the fishermen on Wednesday and spared them of any further jail term in India, signalling a huge diplomatic victory for New Delhi. Around 10 p.m. on Thursday Mr. Modi, who had just returned from his three-nation tour, telephoned President Rajapaksa to personally thank him for the gesture, a top source said. The fishermen, who were released by President Rajapaksa, had reached New Delhi earlier that evening. New Delhi seems to have made its best efforts through multiple channels, possibly including actor Salman Khan’s link to Namal Rajapaksa, who on Friday tweeted a photograph with the actor and his sister. “It was lovely catching up with @BeingSalmanKhan ahead of the 2nd wedding reception,” Namal Rajapaksa said in a tweet wishing the bride.

Mr. Sharma, known well to Salman Khan and also a friend of the Prime Minister, heads India TV and had interviewed Mr. Modi ahead of the Indian elections in May. Mr. Sharma was with Mr. Modi when Mr. Rajapaksa called the Prime Minister on November 9 to discuss the possibility of releasing the fishermen, a top source said, referring to Mr. Sharma as a “long-time friend of the PM.” Ever since the Colombo High Court sentenced the five fishermen to death on October 30 in a case of alleged drug trafficking — along with three Sri Lankan fishermen whose sentence stands till date — the Indian Foreign Ministry explored every possible option, from diplomatic negotiations at the highest levels to legal channels.

Senior journalist and BJP national spokesperson M.J. Akbar was in Colombo recently and called on Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the President’s brother. Earlier, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had pointed to the 2010 agreement between India and Sri Lanka, raising the issue of a possible transfer of prisoners, both these suggesting that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may have simultaneously engaged in the matter. New Delhi, however, was emphatically pushing for a full pardon as it was not prepared to face a situation of having the fishermen lodged in an Indian prison.

While a prison transfer may have been an appealing option to Mr. Rajapaksa, who faces presidential elections in January, he released the five fishermen, that too at a time when sections have been severely criticising his government for its inability to curb drug peddling. “He did it only because he greatly values the relationship with India,” a top source in Colombo said.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/how-colombo-released-the-indian-fishermen/article6625726.ece [last accessed 06.02.2015]

Sri Lanka releases 5 Indian fishermen facing death sentence after President Rajapaksa grants pardon

Nov 19, 2014 at 06:08pm IST

Anna Isaac, CNN-IBN

Chennai: Sri Lanka on Wednesday released five Indian fishermen serving a death sentence in drug smuggling case. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa pardoned the fishermen. The decision came a few days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the Sri Lankan President where they agreed to transfer the fishermen to an Indian jail. Sri Lankan Minister Senthil Thondaman said, "PM Modi spoke to President Rajapaksa and the latter decided to pardon the five Indian fishermen facing death sentence. It if for the Lankan President to say whether it's a fallout of conversation with PM Modi or not. We don't call it a pardon for Indian fishermen, we call it reduction of sentence."

The five fishermen from Tamil Nadu released were Emerson, Augustus, Wilson, Prasath and Langlet. They are likely to be released in two-three days. It is, however, still not clear whether the five fishermen will be serving sentence in India or not or is it a pardon. On behalf of the Indian fishermen, an appeal was filed against the death sentence in the court of appeals by the lawyer engaged by the Indian high commission. The Indian High Commission has approached some of the best legal brains of Sri Lanka to have a look at it," the spokesperson of the Indian High Commission in Colombo had said.

Five Indian are on death row for allegedly smuggling drugs. The case dates back to 2011 when the five fishermen set out to fish from Rameswaram and were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy on the charge of possessing narcotics. The state had witnessed a number of protests on the issue and had sought the Centre's intervention too. DMK leader TKS Elangovan said, "It's a very good thing. Our leader had already appreciated the efforts made by the Prime Minister in this regard. We are very happy."

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/sri-lanka-releases-5-indian-fishermen-facing-death-sentence-after-president-rajapaksa-grants-pardon/513712-62-128.html [last accessed 06.02.2015]

PM Narendra Modi Speaks to Sri Lankan President Over Death Penalty to Indian Fishermen

India | Edited by Mala Das | Updated: November 10, 2014 13:03 IST

Five Indian fishermen sentenced to death in Sri Lanka on charges of drug trafficking

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday over the death sentence handed out to five Indian fishermen which has sparked protests in their home state of Tamil Nadu. The five - Emerson, P Augustus, R Wilson, K Prasath and J Langlet - were sentenced to death by the Colombo High Court on October 30 on charges of drug trafficking.

"The talks were centred around the five Indian fishermen's issue but as of now I don't know any other details," Lankan Presidential Spokesperson Mohan Samaranayake told NDTV. Political parties in the state including MDMK - an ally of the ruling NDA at the Centre - have accused the Centre of doing little. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam had raised apprehensions over whether the fishermen had received a fair trial. Alleging that the case against the fishermen was "fabricated", MDMK chief Vaiko had said that the PM should intervene strongly through diplomatic channels to secure the release of the convicted Indians.

The arrest of fishermen has long been an issue in Tamil Nadu. The sentence comes at a time when the state is demanding the return of Katchatheevu, an island India had gifted to Sri Lanka in the early 70s. Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has filed a petition in the Supreme Court in this regard. Some headway was made on the arrests during the visit of President Rajapaksa in May for the swearing-in of PM Modi. A month later, Ms Jayalalithaa, who had boycotted the swearing-in to protest the invitation to Mr Rajapaksa, wrote to the Prime Minister, asking him to make the issue a priority. Mr Rajapaksa ordered the release of a few hundred fishermen arrested for trespass. But those accused of drug peddling were not allowed to go.

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pm-narendra-modi-speaks-to-sri-lankan-president-over-death-penalty-to-indian-fishermen-691203 [last accessed 06.02.2015]

India likely to file appeal against Colombo HC’s death sentence to five fishermen on Monday

— By AGENCIES | Nov 09, 2014 12:14 pm

Colombo: India is reportedly preparing to file an appeal before Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on November 10 challenging the death sentences handed out to five Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Colombo High Court on charges of drugs smuggling. “Steps to file an appeal on November 10 against death sentences to five innocent Tamil Nadu fishermen in the Sri Lankan Supreme Court are being made on a war footing,” the Tamil Nadu Government said in a release.

The release said that on the orders of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, the Indian High Commission in Colombo has hired the best legal experts in the island-nation to appear on behalf of the “five innocent Tamil Nadu fishermen and the Tamil Nadu government has sent Rs 20 lakh to meet the legal expenses for filing the appeal.

As part of efforts to file an appeal, a copy of the October 30 judgment of the Colombo High Court has been procured. The Colombo High Court had on October 30th sentenced the five Indian fishermen – P Emerson, P Augustus, R Wilson, K Prasath, and J Lanklet – along with three Sri Lankans to death on charges of smuggling 995 grams of heroin. They were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for heroin trafficking in 2011. The Indian fishermen claim that they have been falsely implicated in the case on ‘fabricated evidence’.

Source: http://www.freepressjournal.in/india-likely-to-file-appeal-against-colombo-hcs-death-sentence-to-five-fishermen-on-monday/ [last accessed 06.02.2015]

CPI workers protest over death sentence awarded to Indian fishermen in SL

ANI | Chennai

November 1, 2014 Last Updated at 19:47 IST

The Communist Party of India (CPI) workers staged a protest here on Saturday over the death sentence given to five Indian fishermen by a Sri Lankan court. Extremely upset with the judgement, they demanded the Sri Lankan court to revoke its ruling. CPI general secretary D. Pandian demanded the Centre to take this matter to the United Nations. "The government should bring it to the notice of the United Nations to give the fundamental rights to the Tamil speaking population who are the legitimate citizens of Sri Lanka. They can't deny any right, they must be given all the rights including the political rights," said Pandian.

"The government should pay attention to that to retrieve the rights and put them back in the residences and on their land. But this government is donating crores of rupees," he added.he Colombo High Court had on Thursday sentenced five Indians and three Sri Lankans to death on charges of drug smuggling. The five Indians are among a group of eight people sentenced to death by the high court in Colombo. They had been arrested on a boat in the seas off northern Jaffna's Delft islet.

The Indian fishermen claim that they have been falsely implicated in the case. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam has strongly condemned the Sri Lankan court's decision. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he strongly condemned the conviction. Panneerselvam said the Tamil Nadu Government has consistently insisted that these fishermen were innocent and that the case has been foisted on them. The Chief Minister added that the evidence against these fishermen in the court is a fabrication.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/cpi-workers-protest-over-death-sentence-awarded-to-indian-fishermen-in-sl-114110100791_1.html [last accessed 06.02.2015]

Protests in India over death sentence

By admin October 31, 2014 07:51

Protests were staged in parts of Tamil Nadu yesterday following the Colombo High Court order issuing the death sentence of five Indians, The Hindu newspaper reported today. “My four-year-old son was saying that his father will return home tomorrow and get him an ice cream, but his hopes have been shattered,” said Jansi Rani, 32, wife of R. Wilson, one of the five fishermen awarded death sentence by the Colombo High Court on charges of drug trafficking.

Staging a road blockade at Thangachimadam along with scores of men and women protesting against the verdict, Jansi Raniwept uncontrollably as she recalled her son Jogans’s anxiety on Wednesday after they were told the Colombo High Court would deliver the verdict on Thursday. For a middle-aged mother and four young women in Thangachimadam, the verdict was a rude shock as they came to the road along with other women to fight for justice and the safe return of their breadwinners.

Life turned a nightmare to them ever since their breadwinners were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on November 29, 2011. The five fishermen – P. Emerson ,39; P. Augustin, 32; R. Wilson, 42; K. Prasad, 32; and J. Langlet, 22, had set out for fishing on November 28, 2011, with fishing permits. But, the trip landed them in trouble.

The Lankan Navy arrested them under Sections 54A and B of the Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance Act, 1984 read with Section 218 of the Code of Procedure and the case was being fought before the Colombo High Court. “My husband spoke to me yesterday [Wednesday], but was scared of the verdict,” said Skenitta, 26, the youngest of the five women. Her husband Prasath spoke to her on Wednesday and feared as how the verdict would be. She had asked him not to worry, saying he is innocent and would be released.

It was hardly two months since she conceived her second child, when her husband was arrested, she said. Jayesh is now two-and-a-half years old and he is yet to see his father. “My husband became mentally ill in the prison and he has not spoken to me for more than a year now,” cried Emerson’s wife Lavanya. She manages the family with a monthly assistance given by the government but could not answer when the children — seven-year-old daughter and two-year-old son — ask about their father, she said. She too was four months pregnant when her husband was arrested and the boy is yet to see his father, she rued.

J. Infanta, mother of Langlet, cried uncontrollably as her only son is in prison for more than two years. U. Arulanandham, president of the Alliance for the Release of Innocent Fishermen, said steps were taken to appeal against the High Court order in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.

Source: http://colombogazette.com/2014/10/31/protests-in-india-over-death-sentence/ [last accessed 06.02.2015]

Five Tamil Nadu Fishermen Get Death Sentence in Sri Lanka in Drugs Case

India | Reported by J Sam Daniel Stalin, Edited by Anindita Sanyal | Updated: October 30, 2014 20:47 IST

The five fishermen were arrested in 2011

NEW DELHI: Five Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been given death sentence by a Sri Lankan court in a heroin smuggling case. India will appeal against the sentence in a higher court, said Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs. India has been tracking the case since 2011 when the fishermen were arrested, said Mr Akbaruddin. The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka has been assisting the fishermen with legal aid. "We feel the fishermen are not guilty. We will follow the legal process and will do our best to get them back to India," he said.

The arrest of Indian fishermen who stray into Lankan waters has long been an issue in Tamil Nadu. Some headway was made regarding their release during the visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa during the swearing-in of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May. In June, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who had boycotted the swearing-in in protest against the invitation to Mr Rajapaksa, wrote to Mr Modi, asking him to make the issue a priority.

After the BJP was voted to power in Delhi, Sri Lankan President had ordered release of a few hundred Indian fishermen arrested for trespassing into Lankan waters during festive occasions. However, those accused of drug pedaling were not allowed to go. Down south tempers ran high at Rameswaram, the hometown of the five men. Hundreds of fishermen came to the streets, blocked road and rail traffic. A bus was set on fire and tyres were burnt on railway tracks near Pamban. Three trains bound for Chennai and Madurai were stranded, causing hardship to around 2500 passengers.

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/five-tamil-nadu-fishermen-get-death-sentence-in-sri-lanka-in-drugs-case-686715 [last accessed 06.02.2015]

The Death Penalty Scenario in India

India is one of the 193 countries that retains death penalty. There has always been a few imminent judges who have pronounced compelling verdicts upholding the rights of prisoners on death row. There has been increasing debate in various platforms advocating abolition of death penalty or at least to rethink sentencing policies in India. The Indian government has however always been committed to the retention of the death penalty, irrespective of their political ideology. India has voted against a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) draft resolution on the use of death penalty, saying it goes against the statutory law of the country where an execution is carried out in the "rarest of rare" cases. India retains the death penalty as punishment for a number of crimes including murder, kidnapping, terrorism, desertion, inducement to suicide of a minor or a mentally-retarded person and has more recently in 2013 come to include the offence of rape in certain circumstances. Most recently, there is an outrage over child rape and murder.

After observing an unofficial moratorium of 8 years in India, the Indian Government in November 2012 carried out the execution of Ajmal Kasab, convicted in the Mumbai attacks case, without public knowledge. This was followed by the secret execution of Afzal Guru, convicted in the Parliament attack case of 2001, in February 2013, under similar circumstances, without intimating his immediate family or affording a chance of judicial review. In both cases, the executions were carried out under covert operations conducted by the Government immediately upon rejection of their mercy petitions. Before these executions, the last execution to be carried out in India was that of Dhananjoy Chatterjee in 2004 who was convicted of rape and murder and which sentence was carried out after he had spent 13 years in solitary confinement. Following this, several mercy petitions of death row convicts have come to be rejected. The fear of execution of such convicts is imminent. Bolstered by the Government's unapologetic conduct and public outcry, especially in recent cases of rape and murder reported in the country, the courts are continuing to hand down death sentences at an alarming rate.

In the recent past, there have been a few empirical studies (mainly four) conducted with prisoners on death row. This has highlighted the situation of prisoners on death row.

(1) Most recently the India Exclusion Report 2017-18 found that fair trial rights and guarantees are reduced to a nullity and seeks to breach the citadel of the collective silence. It further said that Convicts on death row in India belong to groups marginalised along the axes of caste, religion, economic vulnerability and educational deprivation, and their fair trial rights, though a part of the Right to Life guaranteed by the Constitution, are invariably non-existent, a survey of 371 out of the 385 persons living under the death sentence and their families has revealed.

(2) Another study was The Death Penalty Research Project (2015) which was conceived with an aim to document the socio-economic profile of prisoners sentenced to death in India and map their experience within the criminal justice system.

There were two other academic studies that were done conducted by Dr. Reena Mary George –

(3)“Voices of prisoners surviving the death row in India” (2014) done through the University of Vienna under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Christoph Reinprecht (Sociology) and Prof. Dr. Manfred Nowak (Law and Ex-United Nations Rapporteur on Torture). George’s research highlights three salient features, namely: poverty, social exclusion and marginalisation are antecedent to death penalty; death penalty is a constructed account by the state machinery; and prisoners on death row situate dignity higher in the juxtaposition of death and dignity.

(4) Another one “Death Penalty – A Human Rights Perspective” (2009) done through the University of Mumbai under the guidance of Retired Justice Hosbet Suresh. This was a study in Maharashtra with the objectives to firstly study the impact of death penalty on the social, mental, and physical being of the inmate and secondly, to study the perception of opinion leaders on death penalty with reference to human rights. All the above reports are public documents.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, Prison Statistics 2015, there are 101 prisoners sentenced to death. The actual figure of sentences originally awarded is much higher considering the death sentences of 49 convicts came to be commuted to life imprisonment in the said period. As of today, almost in 2019, the figures are unknown through government statistics, however, research centres claim this figure to be around 371 convicts. During the 1980s the Supreme Court sought to restrict the use of the death penalty by characterizing it as a punishment reserved only for the “rarest of the rare” cases. The doctrine has not had the desired effect. According to a former chief justice of the Delhi High Court, Rajindar Sachar: “after the rarest of rare doctrine was introduced in 1980, the Supreme Court confirmed death penalty in 40 per cent of cases in the period 1980-90 while it was 37.7 per cent between 1970 and 1980. For the high courts it rose from 59 per cent in 1970-80 to 65 per cent during 1980-90”. Over the past two decades the death penalty has been extended to include more crimes and been handed down with increasing frequency.

Most recently while commuting a sentence in Supreme Court (2018), Justice Joseph did not seek the reconsideration of the Bachan Singh judgment, but only sought to re-examine the purpose and practice of the death penalty, and whether as a punishment, it serves any goal at all. In other words, the death penalty can continue to remain constitutionally valid because of the Bachan Singh judgment, but its application in substantive cases coming before the court must be restricted to only those cases which meet the criteria laid down in that case.

While updating the blog and conducting my own empirical studies, I observed the heinous nature of the crimes that were committed and thought about the families, about their loss, about the victims who for no fault of their own died. If I lost my relative or a dear friend, would I still oppose death penalty and would I still advocate to abolish the death sentence? Having worked in the criminal justice system and also having the seen the other side, where often it is the marginalized, vulnerable and oppressed who are on death row makes me want to advocate for abolition of this punishment. Victims should definitely get justice for their loss, for their pain. No one should escape the rule of law. As long as humanity exists; crime will exist. Should we not re-consider our sentencing policies?

Reena Mary George