Aam Aadmi Party protest in Chennai for release of fishermen

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday was on a hunger strike here to ask the Central Government to take necessary steps to bring back the five fishermen who are facing death sentences in Sri Lanka.

About 75 AAP cadres took part in this hunger strike. They raised slogans demanding the central government to take necessary legal steps to release the fishermen. "We have only three more days for appeal and we don't see any sign of steps taken to bring back the fishermen," Christina Swamy, the National Executive Secretary of AAP said.

"We also want the government to see that the fishermen are not brought on pure forgiveness, which means they still are criminals and the case should be legally cleared as we all know that they are innocent," she added.

The Colombo High Court had earlier this month sentenced five Indian fishermen to death on charges of drug smuggling. They had been arrested on a boat in the seas off northern Jaffna's Delft islet.

The Indian fishermen claim that they have been falsely implicated in the case.