More than 200 people are expected to attend a public meeting taking place as part of a “campaign for justice” for 17 Indian men facing the death penalty in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Sital Singh Gill, general secretary of the Leicestershire Indian Workers’ Association, is urging supporters to attend the event, which will take place at the Guru Tegh Bhadur Gurdwara tonight.

He said more than 5,000 people in Leicestershire have already signed a petition against the sentence.

Speakers at the meeting tonight will include Leicester East MP Keith Vaz, city council leader Veejay Patel, councillors John Thomas and Parmjit Singh Gill and a spokesman for Amnesty International.

The 17 migrant workers were sentenced to death in March.

The men, all from Punjab and aged between 21 and 25, were arrested in January 2009 after a Pakistani man was killed and three more were injured during a fight in the emirate of Sharjah.

Mr Gill said: “We don’t believe they were treated fairly and we don’t think people have heard the full story.

“We do not agree with the death penalty – this is no way to punish these people.”