terça-feira, 1 de março de 2011

Eleven sentenced to death for India Godhra train blaze


Eleven men have been sentenced to death for setting fire to a passenger train in the Indian town of Godhra in 2002, killing dozens of Hindu pilgrims.
Another 20 men were sentenced to life in prison. Last week, the court in Gujarat acquitted 63 of the accused.
The Sabarmati Express was attacked by a Muslim mob killing 59 people, mainly Hindu pilgrims.
The attack led to some of the worst riots seen in India, in which more than 1,000 people - mainly Muslims - died.
Gujarat's authorities were criticised for not doing enough to stop the riots.
All of those accused were Muslim. The convicted men have 90 days to appeal.
The attackers were said to have forced the train, carrying Hindu pilgrims returning from the northern town of Ayodhya, to stop, and then set fire to one of the carriages. BBC News