Journalism of Courage
A former CBI officer involved in investigations into the Rajiv Gandhi assassination has purportedly said he did not record verbatim the statement of A G Perarivalan sentenced to death in the case.
Part of the statement where Perarivalan said he was not aware of why he was asked to purchase batteries was not recorded,a documentary film by a group in association with the Peoples Movement Against Death Penalty PMADP quotes former IPS officer S P Thiyagarajan as saying.
Arivu said he did not know why they asked him to buy this battery. I did not record this statement that he did not know about the batteries. Investigation was in progress,so I did not write it. Though strictly speaking,law expects you to record the statement verbatim. But in practice we dont do that, Thiagarajan,tasked with recording the statement of the accused in the case,said. The retired Kerala cadre officers remarks come 22 years after the assassination by an LTTE suicide bomber.
I always felt a little uneasy in Arivus case. The confessional statement has not been appreciated the way it should have been appreciated, he said. He added wireless intercepts between key accused Sivarasan and LTTE leader Pottu Amman reveal the former had not disclosed the plot to anyone. In February,former Supreme Court Judge K T Thomas,who confirmed the death sentence in the case said it would be constitutionally incorrect to hang them without a review of their case as the convicts have spent over two decades in jail.
In the documentary,V R Krishna Iyer,who heads PMADP,appealed against the execution saying whenever there is a suspicion,please dont execute.
