The 64-year-old Indian-origin man Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam, who spent more than four decades in a US jail for a crime he never committed, finally got relief from two US courts on Tuesday. The courts have ordered a halt to his deportation, stating that it would be unfair for someone who has already spent these many years in jail and is still being denied a chance to rebuild his life after years of injustice.
What was the deportation case?
Last week, after 43 years, Vedam was released from jail, but his freedom was short-lived. He was stopped by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, and his deportation was halted by an immigration judge. His freedom remains on hold until the Bureau of Immigration Appeals reviews his case. Meanwhile, a federal court in Pennsylvania issued a stay, giving partial relief to Vedam, who remains in custody at a Louisiana immigration facility.
Vedam’s conviction — that should have never happened
Vedam was just nine months old when he was brought to the US by his parents, and he has lived there ever since. In 1983, Vedam was convicted of murdering his childhood friend, Thomas Kinser — a crime he never confessed to and consistently denied committing.
The case, for which Vedam served 43 years, was based entirely on circumstantial evidence, with no witnesses and no proof of guilt. Yet, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. His family kept appealing for years, but all efforts were rejected — until this August, when a professor submitted new evidence showing that the ballistics report clearly proved it wasn’t Vedam’s weapon from which the fatal shot was fired. This crucial information had been suppressed by prosecutors for decades. Finally, a Pennsylvania court overturned his conviction.
Decades behind bars
In the past decades, Vedam never lost hope, he completed college and received three college degrees, he turned educator, and mentored jail inmates, he transformed lives behind the bars. His father passed away in 2009 and mother in 2016, Vedam kept his patience and continued to serve and learn.
Why was Vedam kept in custody even after his release?
On October 3, when Vedam stepped out of jail and was about to meet his sister, ICE officers took him back into custody over a four-decade-old drug case that had been overshadowed by the murder charge. The Department of Homeland Security argued that Vedam’s earlier no-contest plea in a minor drug offence remained valid — and even though he was freed in the murder case, the drug charge would not be nullified.
