NEW YORK, NY: The oral hearing scheduled for January 12 in the extradition case of Sukhminder Singh and Ranjit Singh Gill has now been adjoined till January 26, according to Mary B Pike the counsel for the respondents. It will be held before Judge Robert W. Sweet in the US District Court of the Southern District of New York in Manhattan at 9.30 am.
An “amicus curiae” brief filed by the US branch of the international human rights organization Amnesty International was accepted for filing by Judge Robert ‘W. Sweet on December 6 after a conference attended by the consuls for the respondents as well as the government attorneys. The brief will be among the matters which will be discussed at the oral hearing.
The 28 page brief, which is in tum supported by an appendix consisting of 15 separate documents, concludes that “based on its information, Amnesty International respectfully summits that Sikhs, particularly those suspected of advocating the transformation of the present state of Punjab to a separate and independent state of Khalistan, face a definite risk of being tortured, of becoming victims in extrajudicial killings in Staged “encounters”. In addition persons charged with politically motivated offenses carry the death penalty, risk convictions and executions based on insufficient evidence. It is Al’s understanding that petitioners Mr. Gill and Mr. Sandhu are Sikhs and members of the All India Sikh Students Federation, a group which advocates an independent Sikh state, and as such, would if extradited to India, task being sentenced to death following a unfair trail, killed in a false “encounter” staged by the police, or tortured.”
The respondents were arrested by the FBI in New Jersey on May 14, 1987 on a warrant by the Indian government which alleged their involvement in a conspiracy to murder General Vaidya, who had led the Indian Army’s assault on the Golden Temple in which thousands of innocent pilgrims died.
The case took a bizarre tum when Judy Russell, who was the Special Assistant United States Attorney representing the Government of India in the extradition case, was discovered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to have been sending threatening letters, made to appear to be to be from sympathizers of the Sikhs, to the magistrate presiding over the case as well as herself. The first letter was sent on January 14, 1988 and such letters continued until March 3, 1988.
The letters caused authorities to take stringent security measures which vitiated the atmosphere of the trail. The two respondents were shackled throughout the course of the proceedings, sharpshooters were posted on the rooftops, and Ms. Russell was given round the clock security.
Judy Russell had visited India in connection with the case and had continued to handle the case despite her opening a law firm with other former prosecutors on leaving the government. Her plea of “not guilty by reason of insanity” to one count of “corrupt endeavor to influence obstruct and impede due administration of the United Stated District Court” was accepted and she was given a very light sentence by the court. She was not required to serve any jail term. She was only asked to undergo psychiatric treatment. She is free to practice law. Ronald Kuby, an attorney for the respondents had, after the sentencing said, “It is a tainted and corrupt conclusion to a completely tainted and corrupt extradition proceeding.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 29, 1989
