Mani is being held on trumped-up charges, including one of attempted murder, and has been tortured, RSF reports.
(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders appeals to M. Karunanidhi, the chief minister of the southeastern state of Tamil Nadu, to have all the charges against A.S. Mani, the publisher and editor of the Tamil-language magazine “Naveena Netrikkan”, withdrawn after a court in Chennai rejected a petition for his release on bail on 10 August 2010.
Arrested on the orders of Police Commissioner S. R. Jangid on 19 July after publishing an article about police corruption, Mani is being held on trumped-up charges, including one of attempted murder, and has been physically and psychologically tortured.
“We strongly condemn the violence to which he has been subjected while in detention,” Reporters Without Borders said. “His persecution by the police is unacceptable and the proceedings initiated against him seem to be an act of revenge. The government must free him at once and punish those responsible for these crimes against the press.”
Mani already spent a month in prison in 2009. On his release, he told Reporters Without Borders: “Press freedom and press rights are being considerably curtailed by political pressures, particularly in Tamil Nadu. The press is not able to expose the evil at the roots of the society.”
Reporters Without Borders has interviewed Professor Krishnaswamy, the head of the A.S. Mani Support Committee.
