Journalists in Manipur have resolved not to yield to threats issued by militants. This (the resolution) came following a meeting between various journalists' organisations and a number of civil society groups of the state in Imphal on Tuesday. The meeting was organised as a follow-up to the recent threat issued by a militant organisation to newspapers to publish their points of view or face...
Coimbatore, Sept 24: An inquiry has been ordered into the alleged assault of a Tamil daily reporter by revenue officials at Tirupur near here, official sources said today. In an order issued this evening, Coimbatore District Collector S Kosalaraman said "it has been decided to conduct an inquiry on the alleged occurrence and hence Hastings Hope, District Revenue Officer (Stamps), Coimbatore, is...
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the global organisation representing over 500,000 journalists worldwide, today condemned the highhandedness of Punjab police in a midnight action reminiscent of the days of militancy when the police took law into their own hands. On the night of August 28, a police team, reporting directly to inspector general of police (IGP), Sumedh Saini...
CHANDIGARH: "Certain officers run amok." This was how Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday sought to explain the manner in which the Punjab police picked up Gautam Dheer, a principal correspondent with this website’s newspaper, hours after his report on a complaint against IGP Sumedh Singh Saini to the state human rights commission. Later this evening, Dheer was released on bail...
Chandigarh, August 29: Buckling under mounting pressure, Punjab police on Monday released The Indian Express correspondent Gautam Dheer on bail, a day after he was arrested from his residence in connection with a case. The scribe was released on bail on furnishing a personal and surety bond of Rs 10,000 each, Ropar police chief S.P. Singh said. Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh...
Chandigarh, August 29: Hours ahead of his production in a local court, Punjab government on Monday ordered an inquiry into the arrest of a correspondent of The Indian Express by police allegedly in connection with a rape case. "An inquiry by Home Secretary A.K. Dubey has been ordered into the case and the prosecution will not oppose the bail plea of the correspondent in the court," Chief Minister...
New Delhi, August 29: Strongly condemning the arrest of Gautam Dheer, correspondent for The Indian Express in Chandigarh, the Editors' Guild today termed the Punjab police action as "arbitrary" and violative of principle of a free press and demanded his immediate release. "This arbitrary arrest is a clear violation of Dheer's rights as a citizen and media professional. It is also violative of the...
The high court in the India's southern city of Madras has dropped terrorism charges against a high-profile regional journalist, RR Gopal. Mr Gopal, editor of the weekly Nakeeran magazine, was charged in 2003 with illegally possessing a weapon. He spent eight months and prison but was later released on bail. He was the first journalist in India to be charged under the controversial Prevention of...
On 20 December 2003, R.R. Gopal, editor of the Tamil-language magazine "Nakkheeran", was released on bail following a Tamil Nadu High Court order. Gopal was detained in Chennai Central prison for more than eight months. He still faces charges for "conspiring to promote the secession of Tamil Nadu state" and "possession of a firearm". He was charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) on...
RSF has welcomed the release on bail of N. Venugopal, editor of the Telugu-language twice-monthly "Veekshanam", on 16 June 2005. The editor was arrested on 30 May, along with three other members of the Revolutionary Writers Association (Virasam), V. Chenchaiah, G. Pinakapani and Ravi Kumar. Police had opposed their bail application before the Nizamabad District Court. On the morning of 16 June, a...
