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Modi to be sued for genocide in London http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=7486040 RASHMEE Z AHMED TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2002 8:27:32 PM ] LONDON: Britain-based Gujaratis are working alongside the British government to bring three cases in three separate courts across Europe against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The cases, which are to be filed separately in the British High Court, the Belgian courts and, possibly, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, are expected to compliment two other proposed cases against Modi and his administration in India and the US. The charges, ranging from complicity with murder to genocide, could, theoretically, lead to a formal request for Modi's extradition, as seemed likely when Belgian court officials recently held preliminary hearings in a genocide case against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Belgian law, unique and controversially, allows its courts to hear cases of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity no matter where they are carried out or by whom. Sulaiman Qazi, solicitor and cousin of British national Mohammed Aswat who was killed near Ahmedabad, says that the British government is cooperating fully in the preparation of the case, which could be filed in as little as "four or five weeks." Describing the Gujarat violence as "a crime against humanity and not against one community," Qazi said he felt the British Foreign Office (FCO) would support them to the hilt. "The FCO has said that high-ranking officials were responsible for the massacre of innocents and we know that is a statement of support if it comes to extradition," Qazi told The Sunday Times of India as he worked on a "a database consisting of hundreds of eyewitness accounts, with verifiable names, addresses and contact numbers." Sources acknowledged that the FCO's alleged help sits oddly with a government pronouncement on Gujarat in the House of Lords in early March, when junior foreign office minister Baronness Amos "appreciated the efforts which have been made by the Indian Government to restore calm" and said "the Indian authorities are seen to be doing all that they can." The minister had been replying to concerned queries about Aswat's two still-missing companions, Shakil and Saeed Dawood. Qazi admitted that extradition is only one possibility. More likely, he said, "is a Henry Kissinger-like situation, in which the former American secretary of state's arrival in the UK will be attended by Spanish investigators seeking to interview him on Cambodia." In other words, if Modi or others named were ever to set foot in the UK or European Union, they will almost certainly be "interviewed" by investigators. Qazi's search for "admissible and irrefragible evidence against Modi, which would prove he had a direct hand in the killing of my cousin," will hinge on the testimony of a fourth British Muslim who was travelling with Aswat and saw his companions "lynched, set on fire and brutally murdered." The man, who along with the other three, belongs to a West Yorkshire region made up of 15,000 Indian Gujarati Muslims, returned to the UK on Thursday after being nursed back to health by the British authorities in India. His testimony was also recorded by the British political secretary in Mumbai. The British case, to be filed by all four British families will not only charge the VHP, the RSS and the BJP, but also "name specific names." Qazi confirmed that British data-gathering, which took the form of a now-controversial and leaked report, has helped human rights organisations on the ground. London was, apparently, deeply involved in crucial data-gathering and, according to sources, two or three FCO officials flew out from here to join the British fact-finding team in India. Zafar Sareshwala, rich expatriate member of a prominent Ahmedabadi family, lived near the dead British men, knew them well, and is helping to organise the legal challenge. He says the British authorities, particularly the local MP, have been stung into strong support because the Yorkshire Gujarati and Muslim population complained that Indian officials were not helping even to reach the site of Aswat's murder. "There are more non-Muslims in the UK, US and India helping in the search for justice against Modi," said Sareshwala, who lectured at Harvard last week and was approached there by a senior professor, Balakrishnan Rajgopal, to help take Modi to the ICJ at The Hague. --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
