17 facing death say court never questioned them

The 17 Indians who have been sentenced to death for the murder of a Pakistani national say they were never questioned by the public prosecution nor the judge at the lower court before they were sentenced.

The Sharjah Court of Appeals held its first hearing of the case on Wednesday with the authorised translator.

The case has now been postponed to September 29.

"For the first time the accused were given an opportunity to make their statements in front of the judicial agency," said Bindu Chettur, the lawyer from Mohammed Salman and Advocates which is representing the 17 accused.

A Sharjah court had sentenced all the accused to death and the Ministry of Justice had said that was subject to appeal.

The murder occurred in January 2009 in the Al Sajaa area of Sharjah.