Harassed

Yesterday's scheduled contempt of court case against journalist Vineet Narain has been postponed due to violence in Jammu and Kashmir State, the trial venue. It is not known when the next hearing will be held. Narain is the founding editor of the New Delhi­-based investigative journal Kalchakra. He faces contempt charges based on a December 16, 2000, Kalchakra article in which Narain alleged that...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the safety of journalist Vineet Narain, whose contempt of court trial has been abruptly moved up to August 9. It was originally scheduled for September 3. Narain is the founding editor of the New Delhi-based investigative journal Kalchakra. He faces contempt of court charges in Jammu and Kashmir State, based on a December 16...

In a 19 April 2000 letter to the chief minister of India's Manipur state, W. Nipamacha Singh, RSF protested the arrest of N. Biren Singh, editor of the daily "Naharlogi Thoudang". The organisation called on the minister to "ensure the immediate release of the journalist". RSF believes that a jail sentence would constitute a serious violation of press freedom. In a document dated 18 January 2000...

In a 29 March 2000 letter to the chief minister of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal, RSF expressed concern about the sanctions taken against journalist Sukhbir Singh Osan. RSF asked the governor to ensure that the journalist could recover his accreditation with the Punjab authorities. Robert Ménard, RSF's secretary general, reminded the authorities that "Indian laws guarantee press freedom". According...

RSF is protesting the arrests of three senior journalists in the state of Assam. According to RSF's information, on 10 February 1999, Naresh Kalita, news editor of the vernacular daily "Agradoot", was arrested by the police on charges of aiding and abetting separatist militants. A police statement said that he was jailed after the confessions of a militant of the United Liberation Front of Assom...

RSF is protesting the new press censorship decided by the Manipur government. According to RSF, during the first week of October 1998, the government of the state of Manipur (northern India) ordered the local media not to publish or distribute statements by the separatist guerillas. The government's directive says that any newspaper which violates the order will be "severely punished under the...

According to information released by RSF on 18 May 1998, Dhiren Chakravarty and Atanu Bhuyan, editor and executive editor respectively, of the Guwahati-based daily "Ajir Batori", were woken up and arrested at 3:00 a.m. (local time) on Friday 15 May, by Assam state policemen (in the northwestern state of Assam). They are charged with defaming Parliament and its members after the publication, on 21...

Ajit Bhuyan, editor of the widely read Assamese-language newspaper "Asomiya Protidin" ("Assamese Daily") and its sister paper, the Assamese-language weekly "Sadin" ("Seven Days"), has been the target of repeated arrests since August 1997. According to news reports, Bhuyan has been linked by state authorities to the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and with complicity in the...

The CPJ recently called upon the organizational body of the Kashmir separation movement, the All-Party Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference (APHC), to condemn attacks on the press by militant groups, and to expel member parties whose militant allies continue to threaten journalists and news organizations. Following the APHC condemnation of the murder of Norwegian tourist Hans Christian Ostro by the...