Appeal filed against capital punishment to 17 Indians

Dubai, Apr 8 (PTI) An appeal has been filed on behalf of
17 Indians, who were recently sentenced to death by a Sharjah
court for killing a Pakistani national and injuring three of
his compatriots, an Indian official said.
The appeal was filed Wednesday in a Sharjah Court of
Appeals, India's Consul-General Sanjay Verma said.
The Consulate had earlier said that they have hired a
Dubai-based law firm, Mohamed Salman Advocates and Legal
Consultants, to represent the Indians.
Earlier a lawyer, Bindu Suresh Chettur, who met the
convicts on behalf of the law firm, said the men maintained
their innocence.
"I visited all of them at the jail and they signed the
papers," he said.
Consulate officials had met all 17 Indians earlier this
week and said that they were in good health.
The convicted, 16 from the Punjab and one from Haryana,
were recently found guilty by the Sharjah Shariah Court of
killing a Pakistani national and injuring three of his
compatriots allegedly during a clash over an illegal alcohol
business in January 2009.
About 50 people were involved in the attack, in which
the Pakistani man was beaten to death with metal bars. While
others were let off due to lack of evidence, the men on death
row are accused of being the gang leaders. PTI CORR
KAB