Editor of Tamil weekly held on criminal defamation charge

Journalist AS Mani has been detained in Tamil Nadu on a criminal defamation charge. Mani, who edits the Tamil weekly Naveena Netrikkan, was arrested in Chennai without arrest warrant on October 25 as a result of libel suit by a local businessman.

“Mani is the latest victim of Indian laws that criminalise defamation,” Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) reacted. “Misuse of the laws governing defamation and slander pose a permanent danger to Indian journalists. These laws are contrary to international press freedom standards and must be amended without delay.”

Mani was arrested at his home in Chennai at 5:30 a.m. on October 25 as a result of a complaint by local businessman Pottu Suresh over a report published two days earlier linking Suresh to political corruption.

Mani was detained under article 502 of the criminal code concerning the publication of defamatory printed material but he is reportedly also being prosecuted under articles 153A, 503 and 505, which concern incitement of hatred and public alarm and which carry heavier sentences.

Naveena Netrikkan Special Correspondent Parthiban Mani told RSF, “AS Mani’s arrest and continuing detention are unwarranted. We firmly condemn the behaviour of the Tamil Nadu government and the Madurai police, and we call for our colleague’s release.”

Because of the possibility of harassment by fellow inmates, Mani was transferred to Puzhai prison in the state capital, Chennai.

RSF has registered a growing number of cases of arrests of journalists and censorship in India in the past two months, including the arrest of another Tamil journalist , a refusal to issue a visa and the detention of a journalist in Orissa. And the Union government has just banned foreign reporters from going to Arunachal Pradesh to cover a visit by the Dalai Lama.

After 10 journalists were physically attacked by police in Manipur on October 10, more than 100 journalists staged a protest, handing in their press cards on the grounds that they offered no protection against abusive treatment by officials.