Indian Supreme Court stays execution of Mumbai terrorist

GlobalPost

India's Supreme Court on Monday stayed the execution of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone survivor among the terrorists who attacked Mumbai in November 2008, the Hindustan Times reports.

The court said that the execution cannot be carried out until it hears Kasab's petition challenging his conviction and death sentence, the paper said.

 "People may believe it otherwise, but the due process of law demands that the accused should be given full opportunity to defend his case in the highest court," the paper quotes Kasab's lawyer as saying.

Kasab was one of 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008, killing 166 people, most of them civilians, while waging a three-day gun battle with Indian security forces.

He was awarded death sentence by a Mumbai trial court May 6, 2010. Besides other charges, he was convicted for waging war against the nation. The Bombay high court upheld the verdict.

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