Green MEP for London, Jean Lambert has called upon the Government of India to repeal the death sentence imposed on former teacher Devender Pal Singh following his conviction in a trial considered by many to be unfair relating to a 1993 bomb attack in Delhi [1].

The European Parliament has passed an urgent motion urging the Indian government to commute the death sentence and to take the initial legislative steps to deliver a permanent moratorium on executions with the goal of abolishing the death penalty in the near future.

Speaking after the vote, Jean said: “Devender was tortured into making a false confession and was denied a fair trial.  He must now be released without charge or face new fair trials in accordance with internationally accepted standards.”

Notes to Editors

1. Police claim that Devender Pal Singh made a statement confessing to involvement in the bomb attack which left nine people dead, a statement which he subsequently withdrew. In August 2001, with the retracted confession as the sole evidence against him, he was convicted of committing a terrorist attack and sentenced to death.

Devender had no access to a lawyer during his initial detention – the period in which the police claim he made a detailed confession of his involvement in the conspiracy to carry out the bomb attack.  Under international law, the execution of a person sentenced to death in an unfair trial is a violation to the right to life.

For further information, please visit: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA20/033/2011/en/344624f3-ba0a-4171-b892-a13bf8f17c53/asa200332011en.html

2.The full text of the resolution can be read at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=P7-RC-2011-0467&language=EN