Pakistani ultra-goonda Kasab convicted on all 86 charges

[Saddle Bronc 124]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8657642.stm

Surviving Mumbai gunman convicted over attacks

A Pakistani national has been convicted over his role in the deadly 2008 Mumbai (Bombay) attacks by an Indian court.

Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, 22, the sole surviving gunman, was found guilty on charges including murder, waging war on India and possessing explosives.

The attacks left 174 people - including nine gunmen - dead, and soured ties between India and Pakistan.

India's home minister said the verdict was a message to Pakistan that it should not "export terrorism to India".

India blames Pakistan-based militants Lashkar-e-Taiba for the attacks.

After initial denials, Pakistan acknowledged that the attacks had been partially planned on its territory and that Qasab was one of its citizens.

Two Indian men - Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed - who were accused of helping the gunmen plan the attacks, were acquitted by the presiding judge at the court in Mumbai.

The judge will begin hearing arguments about sentencing on Tuesday. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty for Qasab.

Qasab's 271-day trial was conducted amid tight security in a purpose-built court on the jail premises in Mumbai where he was being held.

Closed-circuit TV evidence showed Kasab and an accomplice opening fire on passengers at one of Mumbai's busiest train stations, an assault that left dozens of people dead.

Over the past 14 months, the trial witnessed a number of twists and turns.

Qasab originally denied the charges against him but last July, in a dramatic outburst in court, he admitted his role and asked to be hanged. He later retracted this plea, saying he had been tortured by police into making it, and the trial continued.

In November, the main lawyer representing Qasab - who was arrested on the first day of the attacks - was removed from the case after the judge said he was delaying proceedings.

Late last year, Pakistan charged seven people in connection with the attacks, including the suspected mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who is alleged to head Lashkar-e-Taiba.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

sweet!

[Ban Hammer 13,408]

Court gives death penalty to Mumbai siege gunman

MUMBAI, India – A court in India on Thursday handed a death sentence to the only surviving Pakistani gunman in the bloody 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Judge M.L. Tahaliyani's sentence came three days after Mohammed Ajmal Kasab was found guilty of murder and waging war against India for his role in the attacks that claimed 166 lives in the nation's financial capital.

A death sentence must be reviewed by the High Court. Kasab can also appeal the decision and apply for clemency to the state and central governments.

The November 2008 siege — when ten young men armed with assault rifles began their attacks on two luxury hotels, a Jewish center and a busy train station — reverberated across India. Millions watched on television as the violence stretched over three days.

Kasab was accused of the most lethal episode of the siege — when he and an accomplice killed and wounded dozens of people at one of Mumbai's busiest train stations.

Photographs of that brutal assault became iconic images of the siege.

India blames a Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, for masterminding the attack.

The judge rejected arguments by Kasab's attorney, K.P. Pawar, that he had committed the crime under duress and pressure from Lashkar.

The judge said Kasab joined the militant group on his own and trained to be a fighter.

"Such a person can't be given an opportunity to reform himself," the judge said.

Kasab covered his face with hands and wept when the sentence was announced.

Death sentences in India are carried out by hanging.

The special prosecutor in the trial, Ujjwal Nikam, said in an interview Wednesday that he expected it would take at least a year for Kasab to be executed.

Kasab's lawyer said that no decision had been made yet on whether to appeal the sentence.

"We're all very satisfied," said Deven Bharti, a senior police official involved with the investigation into the attacks. "I hope it will be a deterrent for Pakistan so they will stop exporting terrorists across the border."

Though India voted against a moratorium on capital punishment at the United Nations in 2007 and 2008, in practice, the country has been veering away from applying the death penalty.

Only one person has been executed since 1998 — a man convicted of raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl, who was sent to the gallows in August 2004.

Many convicts simply wait, as bureaucratic disregard — which some say is purposeful neglect by politicians leery of capital punishment — effectively transmutes a death sentence into life in prison. People responsible for the 1991 assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and a 2001 attack on India's Parliament have yet to be executed.

Officials from the Home Ministry said Wednesday that they didn't have information available on the number of Indians currently awaiting execution.

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[Saddle Bronc 124]

Court gives death penalty to Mumbai siege gunman

MUMBAI, India – A court in India on Thursday handed a death sentence to the only surviving Pakistani gunman in the bloody 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Judge M.L. Tahaliyani's sentence came three days after Mohammed Ajmal Kasab was found guilty of murder and waging war against India for his role in the attacks that claimed 166 lives in the nation's financial capital.

A death sentence must be reviewed by the High Court. Kasab can also appeal the decision and apply for clemency to the state and central governments.

The November 2008 siege — when ten young men armed with assault rifles began their attacks on two luxury hotels, a Jewish center and a busy train station — reverberated across India. Millions watched on television as the violence stretched over three days.

Kasab was accused of the most lethal episode of the siege — when he and an accomplice killed and wounded dozens of people at one of Mumbai's busiest train stations.

Photographs of that brutal assault became iconic images of the siege.

India blames a Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, for masterminding the attack.

The judge rejected arguments by Kasab's attorney, K.P. Pawar, that he had committed the crime under duress and pressure from Lashkar.

The judge said Kasab joined the militant group on his own and trained to be a fighter.

"Such a person can't be given an opportunity to reform himself," the judge said.

Kasab covered his face with hands and wept when the sentence was announced.

Death sentences in India are carried out by hanging.

The special prosecutor in the trial, Ujjwal Nikam, said in an interview Wednesday that he expected it would take at least a year for Kasab to be executed.

Kasab's lawyer said that no decision had been made yet on whether to appeal the sentence.

"We're all very satisfied," said Deven Bharti, a senior police official involved with the investigation into the attacks. "I hope it will be a deterrent for Pakistan so they will stop exporting terrorists across the border."

Though India voted against a moratorium on capital punishment at the United Nations in 2007 and 2008, in practice, the country has been veering away from applying the death penalty.

Only one person has been executed since 1998 — a man convicted of raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl, who was sent to the gallows in August 2004.

Many convicts simply wait, as bureaucratic disregard — which some say is purposeful neglect by politicians leery of capital punishment — effectively transmutes a death sentence into life in prison. People responsible for the 1991 assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and a 2001 attack on India's Parliament have yet to be executed.

Officials from the Home Ministry said Wednesday that they didn't have information available on the number of Indians currently awaiting execution.

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Let them hang this POS after sticking a piece of pork between his teeth!