After languishing in jail for 40 months, Mumbai-based journalist and activist Sudhir Dhawale has walked free. He spoke with CPJ about his lengthy imprisonment and the state of press freedom in India.
The following is a 3 June 2014 CPJ Blog post by Sumit Galhotra/CPJ Asia Program Research Associate.
After languishing in jail for 40 months, Mumbai-based journalist and activist Sudhir Dhawale has walked free. Dhawale was the only journalist in jail in India in late 2013, according to CPJ’s annual prison census. With his release, there are currently no other journalists behind bars in the country for work-related reasons.
Dhawale, who founded and edited the Marathi-language magazine Vidrohi, wrote about human rights abuses against Dalits, previously known as “untouchables” in India’s caste hierarchy. Authorities arrested him in January 2011, accused him of supporting India’s banned Maoist rebels, and charged him with waging war against the state, which carries a potential death penalty. On May 15, after being denied bail multiple times, Dhawale was finally acquitted by an Indian court on all charges, according to news reports. He was released a few days later.
