Fury at Bhopal convictions: Seven former employees appeal two years in prison and a minor fine

摘要

MORE than 25 years after a leak of methyl isocyanide led to the deaths of tens of thousands who had settled around Union Carbide's fertiliser plant in Bhopal, India, a court has convicted seven former employees of causing death by negligence. In a judgement, denounced by angry activists as "a joke", those convicted have been fined 100,000 rupees ($2125) and could face two years in jail. The state government of Madhya Pradesh, of which Bhopal is the capital, is considering appealing against a 1996 ruling by India's Supreme Court that reduced the charges from culpable homicide, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.