New Delhi (June 17, 2011): The German Ambassador to India Thomas Matussek has said that Germany will appeal to India not to execute Professor Devender Pal Bhullar. He said the German court which extradited him to India, did so erroneously, and without the full facts of the case before it.
“Our government will appeal to the Indian government not to execute him. The high representative of the EU Catherine Ashton has also written to the Home Minister to spare him the death penalty. We are principally against capital punishment. We will continue to make this point to an International Court but will not appeal on Bhullar’s behalf in an International Court,” said Matussek.
Matussek also said he could not disclose what the Indian official response has been.
“The court in Germany erroneously extradited him. Had we known the full facts of this case, Bhullar would not have been sent back to India. I’m not at liberty to say what the Indian government’s response has been,” he added.
Bhullar was sentenced to death in 2001 by designated TADA court in a 1993 case and the sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court of India in a split decision.
President Pratibha Patil on May 25, 2010, rejected his mercy petition clearing the decks for his execution.
He has since received support from the SGPC, and there has been talk of the Punjab Assembly passing a resolution to commute his death sentence.