Nepalese+Communist+sentenced+to+3+years+in+India,+The+Hindu

The Hindu, Chennai, June 12 (PTI):
=Nepalese Communist leader sentenced to three years in prison=

Nepalese Communist Party leader Chandra Prakash Gajurel was today sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment by a judicial magistrate's court in suburban Alandur, in a passport violation case.

But Gajurel will remain in prison only for three months more as he was arrested on August 21, 2003 and had been lodged in the central prison here ever since.

Magistrate A Paramaraj said Gajurel was entitled to remission and need serve only another three months.

The magistrate also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on him.

He said the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Gajurel had attempted to travel on a forged passport.

Before pronouncing the judgment, the magistrate asked Gajurel whether he had anything to say, to which the communist leader said the case had been "foisted" on him after his photograph was superimposed on a passport.

His advocate C Vijaykumar pleaded with the magistrate that Gajurel be allowed to go back to Nepal. He also submitted that Gajurel had already spent over 33 months in prison after being arrested.

Gajurel was arrested on the charge of using a fake passport, when he was about to leave for London. He was detained under the National Security Act in September 2005.


 * From: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200606121722.htm**

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