A Mathura Court on Wednesday dropped three charges, including breach of peace, levelled on Kerala Journalist Siddique Kappan. However, this may not necessarily bring any relief to the jailed scribe as the offences dropped are bailable. All non-bailable offences levelled against him including draconian UAPA and Sedition remain. The court decided to drop these charges against Siddique Kappan following the failure of the police to complete an inquiry into the matter within 6 months.
Kappan, a Kerala-based journalist and three others, were travelling to Hathras where a Dalit girl was gang-raped and murdered in October last year. However, they were detained en route and the police arrested them under the Breach of Peace charges. Later on, charges such as UAPA and Sedition were added against them. The police claimed that Kappan was a part of the banned Popular Front of India. However, his family, colleagues and local media bodies have repeatedly rejected the allegations. Kappan has maintained that he was travelling to Hathras only to report on the case.
#SiddiqueKappan #UAPA #KeralaJournalist #UPPolice
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
