UAE: Govt to help 17 Indians on death row

The Indian consulate in Sharjah has been talking to prominent lawyers to provide legal assistance to seventeen Indians on the death row.

Government sources said that the authorities in Sharjah have been meeting prominent lawyers to seek their assistance and the appeal to the higher court will be made within the prescribed period of two weeks from the date of judgment by the lower court.

The Indians have pleaded not guilty and they are in good health, the sources confirmed.

Earlier, relatives of the 17 Indians on death row, who are mainly from Punjab, had demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention to rescue them from the gallows. Relatives claim that the convicts are being framed.

IExternal Affairs Minister S M Krishna has also assured support to the 17 Indians, who were sentenced to death for killing a Pakistani national in UAE, saying New Delhi will stand by them if they appeal in a higher court.