Wanted here, behind bars in Portugal

Underworld don Abu Salem, one of the prime accused in the 1993 Bombay Blast cases, and his wife Monica Bedi have been convicted by a Lisbon ...

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Underworld don Abu Salem, one of the prime accused in the 1993 Bombay Blast cases, and his wife Monica Bedi have been convicted by a Lisbon court for using forged documents to enter and stay in Portugal.

A sessions court in Portugal has sentenced Abu Salem, Dawood Ibrahim’s associate, to four and half years in jail while Monica was given a two-year term. Judge Francisco Caramelo told a Lisbon court today that Salem had been convicted on charges of possession and use of false documents and resisting arrest and he was also ordered to pay court costs.

In a related development, diplomatic sources said that the extradition of Monica had reportedly been granted by the Portuguese High Court after India went in for an appeal.

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The CBI is now looking into the ramifications of the twin development in the case. According to sources, Portugal’s extradition laws have provisions through which a person who has been convicted in their country can be sent to another country to face trial.

There is also a provision through which the accused can be sent to another country to face trial and, if sentenced, serve it out entirely in that country or back in Portugal. Or, alternatively serve out the sentence in Portugal and then in the other country.

Salem’s extradition hearing is in the final stages of hearing. He has argued that the condition of Indian jails is deplorable and that he would be mistreated. According to sources, he has submitted a report that was used in the Nadeem Saifi case in London.

According to sources, the court sentenced Salem to three years on charges of forgery and use of forged documents; two years for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer; and one year for perjury because he gave fale depositions before the court that he was Arsalan Mohsin Ali, a Pakistani national. His jail term adds up to six years but has been commuted to four and half years.

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Wife Monica has been found guilty of entering and staying in Portugal with forged documents. Salem and Monica were detained by the Portuguese in September, 2002.

India has been on the trail of Salem since October 2001 when he was reportedly detained in the United Arab Emirates. But India was unable to nab him and he later resurfaced in Portugal. Ever since, India has been trying to extradite the couple.

The sessions court had rejected India’s extradition request on the grounds that Monica could be tried in Portugal since the offence committed by her in India and Portugal was the same.

Moreover, Portugal pointed to a European Union practice of not extraditing any individual to a country wghich has death as penalty. In January this year,India assured Portugal that Salem, if extradited, would not be awarded the death sentence.

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The CBI case against Monica is for forgery and travelling on a fake passport under the name of Sana Mallik. India had appealed that her offence was not similar because Monica had submitted forged documents to procure a passport while in Portugal she was travelling under a forged passport. (with Reuters from Lisbon)