Dhungel‚ Yami press AG for amnesty in murder case

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: Murder convict lawmaker Balkrishna Dhungel and UCPN-Maoist senior leader Hishila Yami today met Attorney General Mukti Narayan Pradhan urging him to expedite the government decision to grant him an amnesty.

The appeal comes at a time when the Supreme Court is preparing to conduct a final hearing on the Cabinet’s six-month-old decision to grant clemency to the Constituent Assembly member.

“As the case has been pending for the last few months, we discussed how to proceed with it,” said Dhungel, who has been convicted of murdering Ujjan Kumar Shrestha in 1998. Dhungel added that as he was a victim of tussle between state organs.

A source at the Attorney General’s office said Yami, who is also the wife of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, has been frequenting the office to meet Pradhan for the last six months. Today’s meeting lasted an hour.

The government on November 13, 2011 recommended an amnesty for Dhungel after ‘informing’ the Supreme Court that authorities were looking for the convict to execute the conviction verdict.

On November 24, the apex court issued a stay on the Cabinet decision to pardon Dhungel stating that it would be against the fundamental rights of the victim.

“Since it is a matter of tussle between state organs, I have urged the Attorney General to settle the case at the earliest,” Dhungel said. “Pradhan has pledged to do the needful soon.”

Stating that Dhungel had not accepted the final verdict of the Ujjan murder case by surrendering to the court, the apex court had said that an absentee cannot be granted a pardon.

The apex court, in its order, had taken exception to the government’s written explanation that it was preparing to execute the murder case verdict and proposing an amnesty for Dhungel simultaneously.