Life sentences for 9 in Gujarat’s Riot Case

(Feb. 24) - A court in India has sentenced nine people to life imprisonment in a high-profile case related to the 2002 riots in the western state of Gujarat. Twelve Muslims and two others were burned to death when the Best Bakery was attacked, allegedly by a Hindu mob. The riots had been sparked by the death of nearly 60 Hindus in a blaze on a train in Godhra in February 2002. More than 1,000 people, mainly Muslims, were killed in the riots. Human rights groups put the death toll much higher.
A special court conducting a retrial found the nine guilty of killing 14 people during the arson attack on the bakery. They had been acquitted in an earlier trial. The court acquitted eight of the 21 people accused in the attack. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of four others, who are absconding. Human rights campaigners saw the Best Bakery trial as a test case in the pursuit of justice following the 2002 Gujarat riots. All the accused in the case had been acquitted in the original trial after the prosecution's main witness Zahira Sheikh retracted her evidence because of threats from local politicians. That led the Supreme Court to order a retrial in the case in neighbouring Maharashtra state. The court on Friday found Ms Sheikh and her family guilty of perjury and issued a show-cause notice to them asking them to explain why they turned hostile witnesses.