Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has appealed to M Karunanidhi, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, to have all the charges against AS Mani, the publisher and editor of the Tamil-language magazine Naveena Netrikkan, withdrawn after a court in Chennai rejected a petition for his release on bail on August 10.
Arrested on the orders of Police Commissioner SR Jangid on July 19 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," RSF 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 RSf, "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."
