Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks began a Supreme Court appeal against his death sentence on Tuesday by claiming that he had not been given a fair trial.
A lawyer read out a statement in court from Kasab, the 24-year-old Pakistani, who has appealed for his death penalty to be overturned after he was convicted in 2010 for a series of crimes, including waging war against India, murder and terror acts.
“I have been wrongly held guilty because I was denied a fair trial. I was denied a counsel,” Kasab said in the statement read by his court-appointed lawyer Raju Ramachandran.
“The prosecution has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the charges against me… I may be guilty of killing people and carrying out a terrorist act but I am not guilty of waging war against the state.”
Two judges in New Delhi are hearing the appeal, which was briefly adjourned in the morning when one judge was unavailable due to other Supreme Court duties.
Kasab’s death sentence was confirmed by a state high court in Mumbai last year. If he loses his Supreme Court appeal, he can lodge a final appeal for clemency with the president.
Ujjwal Nikam, who prosecuted the case in Mumbai on behalf of the Maharashtra state, is seeking to push through the death sentence.
“This is the rarest of rare cases,” Nikam told AFP ahead of the hearing. “He should not be entitled to any mercy.”
At the trial, the prosecution produced fingerprint, DNA, eyewitness and TV evidence showing Kasab opening fire and throwing grenades at Mumbai’s main railway station in the bloodiest episode of the attacks. Kasab — who is in jail in Mumbai — initially pleaded not guilty but later made a confession, admitting to being one of the gunmen sent by the banned LT militant group.
