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  • 'Victim, not terrorist,' says Rajiv Gandhi assassin Ravichandran after his release

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    'Victim, not terrorist,' says Rajiv Gandhi assassin Ravichandran after his release

    The Supreme Court released Ravichandran, Nalini Sriharan, and others, ruling that all six of them had served their sentences in relation to the crime.

    Digital
    Desk:
    Ravichandran, a freed convict in the Rajiv
    Gandhi assassination case, said people in North India should see them as
    victims rather than terrorists or killers.



    "People in North
    India should see us as victims rather than terrorists or murderers. Who is a
    terrorist or a freedom fighter is determined by time and power, "The news
    agency ANI quoted Ravichandran as saying.



    color:black">"But, even if we bear the blame for being terrorists, time
    will judge us as innocent," Ravichandran said as he walked out of jail
    after decades.



    color:black">The Supreme Court released Ravichandran, Nalini Sriharan, and
    others, ruling that all six of them had served their sentences in relation to
    the crime.



    color:black">Ravichandran has also denied being a part of a "larger
    conspiracy" to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi.



    color:black">"We have done some things out of Tamil pride and for the
    Tamil movement," Ravichandran told media, noting that they had not done
    anything that deserved a death sentence. But we are not the ones involved in
    the plot to assassinate the former Prime Minister. We did nothing wrong to
    deserve a life sentence or a death sentence."



    color:black">On May 18, this year, the Supreme Court, invoking its
    extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution, ordered the release
    of Perarivalan, who had been imprisoned for more than 30 years. On Friday, the
    Supreme Court stated that its previous order applies equally to all other
    convicts.



    On May 21, 1991, former
    Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated at a poll rally in Sriperumbudur,
    Tamil Nadu, by a female suicide bomber named Dhanu.