孟买袭击案疑犯将受审

A Pakistani man convicted over the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks is to be sentenced at a prison court in India.

孟买2008恐怖袭击案嫌疑犯——一位巴基斯坦男子，将于印度某监狱法院接受审判。

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Qasab opened fire on commuters

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Qasab - the only gunman who survived the attacks - faces the death penalty or life imprisonment¹ after he was found guilty on Monday.

The prosecution²（起诉，检举） has argued for him to be hanged.

India's last execution was in 2004 and observers say such a sentence could take years to impose（强加，欺骗） because of a lengthy³（漫长的，冗长的） appeal process.

Qasab, 22, was convicted on Monday on 86 charges including murder, waging war on（向……开站） India and possessing explosives. Two other suspects were acquitted⁴（无罪开释） .

The attacks left 174 people dead and heightened tensions between India and Pakistan.

India holds the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group responsible for the attack.

'Agent of the devil'

At a court session on Tuesday, Qasab's lawyer called for leniency⁵（宽大，仁慈） , saying his client had been brainwashed by a terrorist organisation⁶ and could be rehabilitated⁷.

"He's a human being of flesh and blood（血肉之躯） . That should not be forgotten," he said.

But prosecutor⁸ Ujjwal Nikam argued that it would be a "mockery（嘲笑，笑柄） of justice" if Qasab did not receive the death penalty.

"He is an agent of the devil himself, a disgrace to society and the entire human race," he said.

In India the death penalty is carried out by hanging, but it is rarely used and most death sentences are commuted⁹（减刑） to life imprisonment.

A 1983 ruling by the country's Supreme¹⁰ Court stated that it should be imposed only in "the rarest of rare cases".

The BBC's Soutik Biswas in Delhi says that if Qasab is sentenced to death and decides to appeal, the process could take years in the courts.

Our correspondent says that Qasab could in the last resort appeal（作为最后一着） to the president for clemency¹¹ - which would take even more time.