The Supreme Court recently released journalist Siddique Kappan on bail after he had spent over two years imprisoned in an Uttar Pradesh jail. The Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) welcomed the decision as historic and called attention to the ongoing threats to press freedom.
The Supreme Court stated that ‘Every person has freedom of expression,’ when releasing the journalist on bail. About his way to UP’s Hathras, where he claimed he was going to report on a 19-year-gang-rape old’s and murder in 2020, Mr. Kappan was arrested. He was charged of terror funding and charged under the strict Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
In light of the ongoing attack on press freedom and independent journalism, the order is historic, according to the KUWJ. ‘The Uttar Pradesh police imposed Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and jailed him on false charges. The UP police and certain people tried to portray Kappan as a terrorist and tried all methods to deny him bail,’ KUWJ released a statement.
‘He was imprisoned under false pretences by the Uttar Pradesh police under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Kappan was denied bail after the UP police and a few others attempted to paint him as a terrorist,’ KUWJ released a statement.
Even at the point when the KUWJ approached the Supreme Court with a habeas corpus petition seeking Mr. Kappan’s release, it was claimed that the Uttar Pradesh police and that state government ‘tried to delay and scuttle the case.’
The journalists’ body announced that it will keep fighting in court until all charges against Mr. Kappan were dismissed. Due to claims that the state government and the police engaged in a cover-up, the Hathras case sparked widespread indignation and protests.
A few days after being gang-raped, the young woman died. Later, without her family present, she was burned by the UP police in the middle of night.
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