The death sentence of 11 others was commuted to life.
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Memon was executed on his 53rd birthday at the prison in western India where he had been incarcerated since 1994.
In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court held a special early-morning session to discuss the request before rejecting it, Dhatwalia said.
“This morning, the Indian government essentially killed a man in cold-blood”, said Aakar Patel, Executive Director, Amnesty worldwide India.
Chhota Shakeel who along with Tiger Memon, conspired the blasts in Mumbai in March 1993, also questioned the practice in the Supreme Court asking why the same bench of judges that delivered it in first place reviewed the petition.
The Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act lapsed after two years and was never revived, with activists accusing the government of using it to harass Muslims.
As per the AI statement several concerns around the execution were raised by activist groups, including issues of whether courts had considered all relevant circumstances during sentencing, and the length of Yakub Memon’s detention. It opposes it as a violation of the right to life as recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and it is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
Mumbai: Lashing out at those who sought leniency for Yakub Memon, the Shiv Sena today demanded they should be “tried for being enemies of the country” and also asked the government to ensure that the 1993 serial blasts convict does not become a martyr in the eyes of people. It pointed out that Yakub Memon was prepared to return from Pakistan and cooperate with the authorities, and he provided valuable information and evidence as to how the ISI in Pakistan assisted the conspirators, a fact attested to by a former senior intelligence officer, late B Raman.
“Sikhs have been slaughtered in Delhi, eight inquiry commissions have been arrange, how many individuals got demise sentence”, Owaisi stated.
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“Death sentence should also be given to Babu Bajrangi, Maya Kodnani, Lt Col Purohit and Swami Aseemanand”, he said.
