(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply concerned over the prolonged detention of Naresh Kumar Kalita, news editor of the Assamese language newspaper “Agradoot.” ** Updates IFEX alert of 11 February 1999** On 25 February 1999, Guwahati’s High Court rejected Kalita’s bail petition for the second time in two weeks. Police arrested the journalist at his home […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply concerned over the prolonged detention of
Naresh Kumar Kalita, news editor of the Assamese language newspaper
“Agradoot.”
** Updates IFEX alert of 11 February 1999**
On 25 February 1999, Guwahati’s High Court rejected Kalita’s bail
petition for the second time in two weeks. Police arrested the
journalist at his home in Guwahati in the early morning hours of 10
February. They searched the premises for about three hours before taking
him into custody. Authorities have stated that they recovered weapons
and ammunition from Kalita’s home, and accuse the journalist of ties to
the militant separatist group United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).
Journalists in Assam, however, believe that the arrest was related to
the recent publication of an article in “Agradoot,” which reported that
police vehicles were being used to transport illegal timber for the
construction of Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahantaâs new house. CPJ’s
sources say that “Agradoot” has a reputation for publishing articles
critical of his administration, and that this, too, may have encouraged
authorities to order the arrest.
Kalita’s relatives claim that, at the time of the police raid, officers
forced them to sign blank forms that might later be used by authorities
to forge confessions that could serve as incriminating evidence against
Kalita.
CPJ is dismayed that Kalita continues to be held without charge. They
are further disturbed that when local journalists gathered outside the
Guwahati Press Club on 15 February for a march to decry Kalita’s arrest,
police detained about fifty protesters, citing their failure to obtain a
police permit for the demonstration.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the Chief Minister:
Kumar Kalita is released immediately, and that the charges against him
are made public
activities, ask that it be presented before an open court
fears of local journalists that the administration has acted to silence
its critics and curb the independent press in Assam
Appeals To
The Honorable Prafulla Kumar Mahanta
Chief Minister, Assam
Office of the Chief Minister
Dispur
Guwahati, Assam
India
Fax: +91 361 562 069
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
