Nirbhaya Convicts Write To International Court Of Justice Against Execution Of Death Sentence

Four days ahead of the scheduled execution of death warrants in the Nirbhaya case, three of the convicts wrote a letter to the judges of the International Court of Justice seeking stay of their executions.

As per the latest death warrant, the four convicts are scheduled to be hanged on March 20 at 6 AM.

In the letter sent by convicts Akshay Singh, Pawan Kumar Gupta and Vinay Sharma, they term death penalty "barbaric and inhumane".

They allege that the investigation was faulty and the conviction was based on insufficient evidence. 

""Many facts of the investigation that pertain to recording of dying declaration, recording of statements of witnesses under Section 161 of the CrPc, the medical examination, holding of the test identification parade, the manner and method of search and seizure and the procedure of arrest have been seriously doubtful in this case sue to international media pressure", the letter stated.

The letter also stated :

"Everyone is aware of what is happening in the world and also Delhi NCR in regard of water and air. Life is going short to short, then why death penalty?"

The convicts requested for an open court hearing allowing their counsel A P Singh to make submissions.

The International Court of Justice has no power to take note of individual disputes within sovereign states. The ICJ assumes jurisdiction only with respect to disputes between sovereign states as per the Statute of ICJ.