Indian Court Stops Release of Gandhi Murderers

Freeing trio responsible for killing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is not "legally tenable"

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On Wednesday, the chief minister of the southern India’s Tamil Nadu state ordered the release of three of the seven people convicted in the 1991 murder of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. However, their release has now been halted.

India’s Supreme Court cited “procedural lapses” and India’s current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the decision to release the plotters is “not legally tenable.”

The three men — known as Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalen — were sentenced to death in 1998, but this punishment was commuted earlier this week. It is believed that the murder of Gandhi was retaliation for India’s involvement in the civil war in Sri Lanka.

[BBC News]