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Afzal Guru
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Mohammad Afzal Guru (1969 - 9 February 2013),
an Indian national, was convicted by Indian court for the December 2001 attack
on the Indian Parliament, and sentenced to death by a special Prevention of
Terrorism Act Court in 2002. The Delhi High Court confirmed the judgment in
2003 and his appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court of India in 2005. The
Supreme Court did not find any evidence as to his membership to any terrorist
organisation but stated that the circumstances clearly established that Guru
was associated with the deceased terrorists in almost every act done by them in
order to achieve the objective of attacking the Parliament and there was
sufficient and satisfactory circumstantial evidence to establish that he was a
partner in the conspiracy. The sentence was scheduled to be carried out on 20
October 2006, but Guru was given a stay of execution after protests in Jammu
and Kashmir and remained on death row. On 3 February 2013, his mercy petition
was rejected by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. He was secretly
hanged at Delhi's Tihar Jail around 08:00 am on 9 February 2013 and
afterward buried inside jail grounds in Operation Three Star. His family was
not informed prior to execution and his dead body was later denied to his
family, while his execution resulted in violent protests across the Kashmir
region.
