On March 18, 2017 the Gurgaon Additional District and Sessions Court sentenced 13 of those accused of violence and rioting at Maruti Suzuki’s plant in Haryana’s Manesar district in 2012 to life imprisonment. Earlier, defence lawyers had said that there were several “internal contradictions and falsehoods” in the prosecution’s case, and questioned the fairness of the police investigation.
The verdict led to protests, with the sentiment was expressed as a letter written by the convicted individuals to workers across the country who stand in support of the struggle.
“We thought we would finally be free after four-and-a-half years but it is not to be,” says the letter. “From the judgement it is apparent that justice is reserved only for the rich,” reads one of the convicted workers in the video above.
“Without evidence or witnesses, and based purely on the false testimony of the management, we have been convicted,” he adds.
“Now it is time for all the workers to unite and answer the false testimonies,” he concludes at the protest outside the plant.
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