Mumbai attacks trial this week

INDIA: The trial of the lone militant suspect captured by police during the Mumbai attacks is due to start on Wednesday, amid tight security and under close international scrutiny.

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman, also known as Kasab, is to make his first public appearance since being arrested on November 26, soon after 10 gunmen began an assault that left more than 160 dead and over 300 others injured.

The 21-year-old Pakistani national, said to belong to the banned, Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), faces a string of charges, including “waging war” against India, murder, attempted murder and kidnapping. He faces the death penalty if convicted.

The trial is being held before a single judge without a jury at a special court in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail because of security fears that also saw all previous hearings held by video-link or behind closed doors.

There was also uncertainty about whether he would even be represented in court after the home of his state-appointed lawyer, Anjali Waghmare, was attacked by irate Hindu radicals and she was denounced for taking on the case. She has since been given the highest level of police protection.

Mumbai, Sunday, AFP