China Case Concludes: Majority of Indian Diamond Traders Released

There was a sense of relief across the Indian diamond industry as news that the majority of the 22 Indian diamond traders who had been detained in a Chinese jail for the last two years had been released by a Shenzen court today.

The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, which concluded its hearings a few days ago, is reported to have pronounced judgement in the case sentencing 10 of the traders to prison terms while asking for the other 12 to be deported from the country immediately.

More details of the judgement are awaited, but it is believed that many of those sentenced by the Court will also be released soon as the jail terms would include their detention period they have been in jail. Quoting Indian consulate officials who attended the trial, PTI reports that those sentenced to prison received varied terms ranging from 23 months to six years. While one of received a six year sentence; two were given five year terms each; one three years and six months; and five others, three years each.

One more trader was sentenced to one year and eleven months in jail, while some were also slapped fines ranging from three lakh to ten lakh yuan (Rs 24 lakh to Rs 80 lakh).

It may be recalled that over the last year, representatives of the industry had met with many senior functionaries at the central and state government level, including a meeting with the PM, Manmohan Singh a few months ago. Gujarat CM, one of the leaders who had also been requested to intervene, told the media that he had met Chinese government officials during a recent visit to the country and requested them to ensure speedy completion of the trial.

The 22 traders were arrested on January 8, 2010 in Shenzhen and charged with smuggling diamonds worth $ 7.3 million.