b. Robert Pias, a Sri Lankan Tamil, is one of seven convicts serving life sentences in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Payas was accused of harboring LTTE killers. He is lodged in Pujali Central Jail in Tamil Nadu.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Robert Payas or Robert Pius was born in 1980 (age 50; as in 2020) in Kokuvil, Jaffna, Sri Lanka. On September 20, 1990, 20-year-old Robert arrived in India with his wife and several other relatives and registered as refugees in Ramswaram. After a few days they moved to Madras and started staying there.
Family and nationality
Robert Payas was born into a Sri Lankan Tamil family.
parents and siblings
Father’s name is Balasundaram.
wife and children
Robert Payas married R. Prema at a very young age. The couple has a son, Tamilko, who was born on 6 February 1991 at a private hospital in Chetpet, Madras.
role in murder
Robert Payas was a suspected member of an LTTE commando team sent to India by the LTTE to set up bases for Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres. He rented two houses in Madras (now Chennai) where the conspirators stayed and prepared their plans.
Trial and Judgment
After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991, Robert Payas was on the run for several days. On June 10, 1991, the SIT (Special Investigation Team) arrested Robert Payas in connection with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. The CBI has investigated the matter and submitted a report. During his trial in a TADA (Prevention) Act court in Chennai, it was established by his confession and other evidence that Robert Payas was familiar with the conspiracy to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi. The court convicted him under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 and several Indian penal statutes. On January 28, 1998, the court sentenced Robert Payas and 25 others to death. This decision has angered many legal experts and human rights defenders in India. Human rights defenders protested the court’s decision and claimed that the trial was not transparent, as it was held behind closed doors and the identity of the witnesses was not disclosed to the public. As a result, the Supreme Court decided to hear the appeals for trial. On 11 May 1999, the Supreme Court acquitted Robert Payas under the TADA (Prevention) Act, 1987 and commuted the death sentence of Robert Payas to life imprisonment.
Facts/Trivia
- wife of Robert, r. Prema, is the sister of Jayakumar, another convict serving life imprisonment in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
- Robert Payas claimed during the trial that his one-and-a-half-year-old son was killed by the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF) in 1990 before he came to India.
- In 2014, the Jayalalithaa-led Tamil Nadu government tried to free seven convicts who were serving life sentences in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. After that, the central government appealed to the Supreme Court against the state’s decision. In 2016, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled that the Tamil Nadu government had no right to release convicts convicted under the Trade Union Act and in a case investigated by the CBI, which is also a central agency.
- In 2017, the year he completed his 26-year jail term, Perarivalan appealed to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Eppappadi K. Palaniswami, asking for a mercy killing. he wrote
I came to the conclusion that life has no meaning when there is no possibility of release. Therefore, I am asking you to have mercy on me and hand over my body to my family.”
- In November 2019, the Madras High Court granted a 30-day conditional discharge to Robert Payas for arranging his son’s wedding. It was the first time he was out of prison since he was released in 1991.
Pictured: Robert Payas gets out of prison on parole after 28 years
Categories: Sports
Source: dienchau2.edu.vn
