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British Gurkha champ ready to defend Deuba
A maverick Nepalese lawyer, who has helped the British Gurkha soldiers fight against the British government and wrest equal rights, says he is ready to give King Gyanendra battle to free jailed former premier Sher Bahadur Deuba.
Gopal Siwakoti, who had won a decisive case against the British government and forced it to pay compensation to Gurkha veterans who were taken prisoners by the Japanese during World War II, has offered to fight for Deuba's release in the United Nations international court in Geneva.
Deuba was Tuesday sentenced to two years' prison for graft in a multi-million dollar water supply project by the Royal Commission for Corruption Control.
As Deuba's lawyers are mulling if they should file an independent case in the supreme court, saying the king has violated Deuba's civil rights, Siwakoti has jumed into the fray with a band of lawyers at the Human Rights Committee in Geneva.
Siwakoti said: "In 1991, Nepal ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights."
"If the government violates the pact, it can be taken to the UN court directly."
Bhimarjun Acharya, another lawyer in the band, explains how they can defend Deuba.
"Nepal's Jail Act says an accused person can be jailed after he has been sentenced by a court," he says.
"But the commission is not a court. Only parliament can form a court, not the king."
He also says international laws require judges to be "transparent, independent and impartial". The commission, handpicked by the king from former civil servants, fails that yardstick, he says.
Siwakoti, who has the reputation of filing public interest cases, however can't go to the UN court directly since only the "victim" has such access. "But if Deuba gives the nod, we can file our case within a week," Siwakoti said. "In two months we can mobilise 100 lawyers at home and abroad who will defend him before the UN."
Deuba, a three-time prime minister of Nepal, was sacked in February by King Gyanendra who seized direct power with the help of the army.
Deuba says though the probe commission is unconstitutional, he will not fight its verdict in a higher court because he feels judges are afraid to go against the king.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5983_1444565,00430005.htm