Dismay as charity worker jailed in India denied appeal

Date: 23/05/02

MEPS and campaigners have reacted with dismay to news that a charity worker imprisoned in India for a drugs offences was denied the right to appeal against his sentence.

Ian Stillman's application to the Supreme Court in India was dismissed out of hand.

The Briton, who is deaf and has only one leg, was convicted last year of being in possession of 20-kilogrammes of cannabis and sentenced to ten years in jail.

He was the only person arrested among a group travelling in a taxi in which police found a bag containing the drug.

Stephen Jakobi, of campaign group Fair Trials Abroad, said: 'This decision is not just a setback but also a clear indication that the Indian justice system is not capable of rectifying a mistake.

'Unless a court can be persuaded to look at the medical evidence and not at any previous court decisions, any future legal activity is futile.'

MEP Liz Lynne, the European Parliament's rapporteur for the Year of Disabled People in 2003, said she was disappointed with the verdict and maintains that Stillman did not get a fair trial.