In the first conviction of its kind, the Chief Court in Surat, India on Thursday sentenced a Guyanese and a Lebanese national to four years imprisonment and ordered them to pay a fine of Rs1 lakh, in a case related to blood diamonds.
The Times of India says the accused have decided to challenge the verdict at a higher court.
Justice VG Trivedi found Robai Hussain, a Guyanese and Yusuf Ossley, a resident of Lebanon, guilty of possessing blood diamonds. Both deposited fines in the court, late on Thursday evening.
“Such crimes have an impact on the economy and therefore affect the lives of the common man directly and/or indirectly. Both accused have breached the law and it was necessary to punish them,” Justice Trivedi said, while passing the judgment.
The report said that the judge pronounced the verdict after hearing 13 witnesses and verifying 67 pieces of evidence in the case. The court has ordered the auction of the diamonds also.
The World Diamond Council made Kimberly certification compulsory to ensure that such banned diamonds do not become a part of legal trade.
Guyana has also come under scrutiny over the Kimberly Protocol as there have been concerns that Venezuelan diamonds have been laundered through Guyana.
A report in the Indian Express said that Hussain and Ossley were picked up and arrested during a raid by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence sleuths at their room in Arpan Apartments at Rampura in Surat on September 19, 2008.
They were found to be carrying diamonds worth Rs 3.85 crore without a certification from Kimberly Process.
The report said that during interrogation, they confessed to having bought diamonds from Zimbabwe for sale into the local market in Surat.
“Surat in particular and India in general have proved to the international watchdogs that we act tough when it comes to blood diamond trade,” said Chandrakant Sanghavi, regional director of Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), said in a Times of India report.
“This is the first time in the world that the blood diamond case has been dealt with strictly and the culprits have been sent behind bars,” said Sanghavi.
The report pointed out that India is one of the founding members of the Kimberly Protocol.
“All the rough diamonds imported to India, particularly in Surat is done with KP certificate. Since Surat is the world’s biggest diamond cutting and polishing hub, human rights watchdogs have reasons to believe that it is the final destination for the blood diamonds. But the conviction of two foreign nationals proves that India acts tough when it comes to blood diamonds,” said an industry stakeholder.
