New Delhi: Three convicts on death row for plotting the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, will file a petition in the Madras High Court today against the President's rejection of their mercy pleas.
AG Perarivalan, an Indian Tamil, and two Sri Lankan Tamils, T Suthendraraja alias Santhan and Sriharan alias Murugan, are to be hanged it the Central jal in Vellore September 9. All three have been behind bars for almost 20 years - Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in May 1991.
The mercy petitions were rejected by President Pratibha Patil on August 11. They'd been pending for 10 years.
Several groups and political leaders in Tamil Nadu, including DMK chief M Karunanidhi and MDMK chief Vaiko, have appealed that the capital punishment awarded to the three men be commuted. The families of the convicts have made appeals too, both to the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
PTI adds: Mr Karunanidhi made a statement over the weekend appealing to Sonia Gandhi, the wife of the assassinated PM, to intervene and save their lives on "humanitarian grounds", saying appeals by Tamils across the world needed to be considered in the spirit of "forget and forgive".
AG Perarivalan, an Indian Tamil, and two Sri Lankan Tamils, T Suthendraraja alias Santhan and Sriharan alias Murugan, are to be hanged it the Central jal in Vellore September 9. All three have been behind bars for almost 20 years - Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in May 1991.
The mercy petitions were rejected by President Pratibha Patil on August 11. They'd been pending for 10 years.
Several groups and political leaders in Tamil Nadu, including DMK chief M Karunanidhi and MDMK chief Vaiko, have appealed that the capital punishment awarded to the three men be commuted. The families of the convicts have made appeals too, both to the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
PTI adds: Mr Karunanidhi made a statement over the weekend appealing to Sonia Gandhi, the wife of the assassinated PM, to intervene and save their lives on "humanitarian grounds", saying appeals by Tamils across the world needed to be considered in the spirit of "forget and forgive".
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