An Indian judge Thursday condemned to death the sole surviving gunman involved in the 2008 Mumbai siege after a year-long trial over the bloody attacks that traumatized the nation. Judge M.L. Tahaliyani imposed the death penalty against Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab on four counts of murder, waging war against India and conspiracy and terrorism offences. “He should be hanged by the neck until he is dead,” he said. “I don't find any case for a lesser punishment than death in the case of waging war against India, murder and terrorist acts.” Kasab, 22, dressed in a traditional white tunic, sat with his head in his hands staring at the floor of the dock as the judge issued the sentence, three days after the Pakistani's conviction on Monday. Tahaliyani said the evidence showed “previous, meticulous and systematic planning” of the atrocity, which left 166 people dead and hundreds injured and led India to halt peace talks with its arch-rival Pakistan. “Brutality was writ large,” he added, and the offences were “of exceptional depravity.” Pakistan distanced itself from Kasab but called for perpetrators of the siege to be brought to justice. “We would appreciate that our legal experts need to go through the detailed judgement,” Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told reporters in Islamabad when asked about the death sentence. “Pakistan has strongly condemned the horrific Mumbai attack. It is important that culprits are brought to justice,” he added. Branded a “killing machine” and “cruelty incarnate” by the prosecution, Kasab was the only gunman caught alive in the 60-hour assault by 10 terrorists on hotels, a railway station, a restaurant and Jewish center. Observers say the death penalty is likely to trigger a lengthy, possibly open-ended, appeal through the Indian courts. The government officially supports capital punishment for what the Supreme Court in New Delhi has called the “rarest of rare” cases but no execution has been carried out since 2004 and only two since 1998. Outside the court, crowds chanted “Victory to Hindustan.”
