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Death row Indian fishermen get Rs. 4.2m from Tamil Nadu
View(s):The Tamil Nadu government has sent Indian Rs. 2 million (SL Rs. 4.2 million) to the Indian High Commission here to cover the legal cost of the appeal to be filed by the five Indians sentenced to death for drug trafficking. In a statement, the Tamil Nadu government said the funds would be used by the fishermen to pay the legal team which is being put together by the Indian High Commission in Colombo. The money has been transferred with the lawyers set to file the appeal tomorrow.
On Tuesday India’s High Commissioner Y.K. Sinha visited the Welikada Prison to meet the five Indian prisoners and assured them that the Indian Government would make all efforts to secure their early release and repatriation.
The Colombo High Court on October 30 sentenced the five Indians to death. They were arrested by the Navy in November 2011 for trafficking nearly a kilogram of heroin.
Following the death sentence, about 3 million fishermen in Tamil Nadu staged a strike. Protests continue throughout Tamil Nadu, demanding the release of the five convicts.