Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday thanked China for acting on his request to speed up the judicial process for 22 Indian diamond traders, most of them from the state, imprisoned there.
"Thankful to China for acting on my request of speeding
judicial process for 22 Indians imprisoned there for 2 years,"
Modi tweeted.
Modi had last month gone on a five-day visit to China to
explore investment opportunities here. During his visit the
Chief Minister had also taken up the issue of diamond traders
languishing in China`s jail, with the ruling Communist Party
of China.
Ten of the 22 Indian traders, charged with smuggling
diamonds worth USD 7.3 million into China, were today
sentenced to varied prison terms ranging from 23 months to six
years by a Shenzhen court which ordered the deportation of the
remaining 12.
The Shenzhen Intermediate People`s Court, which conducted
the trial of the diamond traders, sentenced one of them to six
years, two to five years each, one to three years and six
months and five others to three years each.
One more trader sentenced to one year and 11 months in
jail, is likely to be released as his term is complete,
according to a member of Indian China Economic and Cultural
Council Gujarat (ICECCG) here.
A leading diamond industry body of Surat has welcomed the
judgement saying it is a positive steps towards getting
justice.
PTI
