2010-12-22 15:20
July 13, 2010: Kolkata, The curtains came down on the 12-year old saga of “Operation Leech” in a Kolkata court on Monday with the stage set for imminent release of the 34 Myanmar nationals, who were facing trial on alleged gun-running charges for the past four years.
Sources: Express India
The “Operation Leech” trial ended on an unprecedented note since it was one of the rare cases in which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) agreed to participate in a plea bargain, perhaps, because a detailed judicial order would have exposed the grey areas in the investigations into the mysterious 1998 military intelligence operation in Andaman’s Landfall Islands.
The Myanmarese, as per the plea bargain agreement, were given a sentence of imprisonment of one year and three months and fine of Rs 6,000 each. However, as their lawyer Akshay Sharma pointed out that since they have already been in the prison for over five years and in detention for 12 years, they should be immediately freed.
“The order pronounced today shows how much flexibility there is while following the plea bargaining procedure. There was no conviction and neither did the accused plead guilty to any of the charges,” he said.
Human Rights activist Nandita Haksar, who has been campaigning for the early release of the 34 Myanmar nationals, however, said the order on fine pronounced today was unfair. “There is no scope for imposing fine during a plea bargain and this option was never taken up during the arguments,” she said. “We are shocked that so much money has to be raised again in the hope of getting the 34 out of prison.”
While the “Operation Leech” trial may have technically ended, the uncertainty over the future of the 34 accused has not ended yet. During the plea bargain arguments, the defence lawyers had filed appeals requesting that the Myanmarese not be deported back to Burma but instead be allowed to stay back in India as refugees. They had also informed the court that they had obtained “under consideration” certificates from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Haksar says that during their discussions with the Kolkata jail administration and officials in the state government, they received a lukewarm response to the Myanmarese being immediately released in view of the UNHCR certificate. As far as the lawyers and supporters of the alleged gun runners are concerned, the plea bargaining has succeeded at least in that an appeal against an acquittal cannot be filed in the Supreme Court.
But the final decision on whether to allow the Myanmarese to live as refugees in Delhi—-like hundreds of others—-or to allow them the liberty to walk free and recount the events of February 8, 1998 may well end up being a political one.
Source:http://www.indoburmanews.net
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