Sajjad Karim MEP, Liberal Democrat Member of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, has raised the case of Mohammad Afzal Guru directly with Indian President, A.J.P. Abdul Kalam, at a private meeting at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 26 April 2007. Mohammad Afzal Guru who was sentenced to death in December 2002 after being convicted of conspiracy to attack the Indian Parliament.

Sajjad, who is the European Parliament's rapporteur on EU-India Trade and Economic Relations, also led the successful campaign to commute the death sentence of Mirza Tahir Hussain, a British citizen who spent half his life on death row in Pakistan for a crime he maintains he did not commit.

"I met with the President and raised my concerns about the Afzal Guru case. We agree that India is a democracy, which enshrines the rule of law. However I remain deeply concerned about the case as Afzal Guru's right to a fair trial seems to have been denied.

"President Kalam has been one of the key abolitionist voices in South Asia. The President assured me that he was familiar with the case and that he would take my concerns and the concerns of the European Parliament on board.

"In my view, he must demonstrate his commitment to abolishing the death penalty across the globe, by showing mercy to Afzal Guru and using his Presidential powers to grant him a pardon.

"The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. It violates the right to life. It is irrevocable and can be inflicted on the innocent, with tragic consequences. Afzal Guru must not be allowed to be the death penalty's latest victim."

ABOUT MOHAMMAD AFZAL GURU

Mohammad Afzal Guru who was sentenced to death in December 2002 after being convicted of conspiracy to attack the Indian Parliament, waging war against India and murder. He was convicted and sentenced under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), which was repealed by the Indian Government in September 2004 on the grounds that it had been misused and falls considerably short of fair trial standards. Amnesty International has condemned Afzal Guru's death sentence and insists that justice is never served by judicial murder.

Photographs:

1. Sajjad Karim MEP speaking with Indian President, A.J.P. Abdul Kalam, as Emma Nicholson MEP and Hans-Gert Poettering, President of the European Parliament look on.

2. Left to right - Indian Ambassador to the EU, Dipak Chatterjee; Graham Watson MEP, Leader of the ALDE Group; Abdul Kalam, President of India; Sajjad Karim European Parliament Rapporteur on EU-India Trade and Economic Relations.