NCHRO welcomes the Supreme Court’s granting bail to journalist Siddique Kappan: Says his arrest in the first place was a grave injustice

Kerala-based journalist Siddiqque Kappan, who was arrested in October 2020, was granted bail by the Supreme Court. Kappan had been arrested after the Hathras gang-rape case in which a 19-year-old Dalit woman was victimised drew outrage across the country. The UP police had arrested Kappan, along with three other people, alleging that they had plans to create tension in the area along caste lines and disrupt the law-and-order situation. The Supreme Court, while granting bail to Kappan, remarked that "every person has freedom of expression."

With regard to evidence that the UP police had presented to support their allegations, they had nothing of significance. The Supreme Court also pointed this out while granting the said bail. Kappan was charged under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for alleged terror funding, an act that has been used to jail and silence many activists, academics, and journalists across the country who have been raising their voice for justice.

Human rights organisation the National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (NCHRO) welcomes the granting of bail to the Kerala journalist. At the same time, we would also like to point out this his very arrest in the first place was a grave injustice. The case made against him is completely fabricated, and he was targeted simply because he had intended to report on the heinous crime, and the UP government had been trying to either prevent it from being highlighted, or to airbrush the case. While we welcome the bail granted to Siddique Kappan and also lament the fact that he was incarcerated for two years in a fabricated case, we hereby also demand once again that all the political prisoners be released immediately. We urge all the other political organisations to come forward in demanding the same. The fascistic crackdown on activists, journalists, academics, and anyone raising their voice for justice will not be tolerated and will be challenged robustly.