R P Ravichandran, one of the six convicts who was released on Saturday in the assassination case of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, said that the people of north India should see them as 'victims instead of terrorists or killers'.
He said that time will judge them as 'innocents'.
Speaking to ANI after his release from Madurai Central Prison, Ravichandran said, "The people of north India should see us as victims instead of terrorists or killers. Time and power determine who is a terrorist or a freedom fighter but time will judge us as innocent, even if we bear the blame for being terrorists."
Nalini and Ravichandran had approached the apex court seeking release from prison-like fellow convict A G Perarivalan.
This came after the Supreme Court, on May 18, had evoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to release AG Perarivalan, who was one of the seven convicts in the assassination case.
Earlier, Nalini Sriharan, one of the six convicts in the case, expressed her gratitude to the Tamil Nadu and central governments for extending 'help' to her during her punishment of 32 years and said that she wants to be with her family.
Sriharan, who is the longest-serving woman prisoner serving a life sentence in the country, was released from the Vellore jail on Saturday following an order from the Supreme Court on Friday, freeing all six convicts, including RP Ravichandran, in the case.
Upon walking out of the jail, she thanked the people of Tamil Nadu, who she said, supported her for 32 years.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991, at Sriperumbudur Tamil Nadu by a woman suicide bomber of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) group during a public rally.
The seven convicts were sentenced to death for their role in the killing.
They included Nalini Sriharan, RP Ravichandran, Jayakumar, Santhan, Murugan, Robert Payas, and A G Perarivalan.
In the year 2000, Nalini Sriharan's sentence was reduced to a life term.
Later in the year 2014, the sentence of the other six convicts was also reduced, and during the same year, the then chief minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalitha recommended the release of all the seven convicts in the case.
