[mukto-mona] Fw: INDIA: Times of India facing "sedition" and "conspiracy" charges (Eng+Fr)

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From: RSF ASIA <asie@rsf.org>
To: asie@rsf.org
Sent: Wednesday, 4 June, 2008 4:50:31 AM
Subject: INDIA: Times of India facing "sedition" and "conspiracy" charges (Eng+Fr)

Reporters Without Borders/Reporters sans frontières

4 June 2008

INDIA

Times of India facing "sedition" and "conspiracy" charges

Reporters Without Borders today condemned a case brought by police in Ahmedabad, capital of Gujarat state, western India, against the Times of India for "sedition" and "criminal conspiracy" - charges which amount to serious threats to state security.

City Police chief, OP Mathur, recently posted to Ahmedabad, laid a complaint against the editor of the city edition, a correspondent and a photographer on the national daily after it published articles casting doubt on his ability to protect the population from terrorism and organised crime.

The police chief said that the journalists had broken sections 124a (sedition) and 120b (criminal conspiracy) of Indian criminal law, by questioning his integrity and authority. Anyone found guilty of such threats to state security risks a prison sentence of several years and even the death penalty.

The Editors Guild of India condemned the move saying, "Abuse of the sedition provision against the media negates the freedom granted to the citizens by the Constitution". Journalists demonstrated in support of press freedom on 2 June in front of the city's main police station.

Spokesman for the Congress Party and Member of Parliament, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, strongly condemned the police chief's action. "Neither dissent nor disagreement, not even strong criticism, amounts to sedition". Police officers "should not suffer from illusions of grandeur by equating themselves with the nation", he added, advising the police chief to "relearn the law".

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INDE

Le Times of India poursuivi pour "sédition" et "conspiration"

Reporters sans frontières condamne la procédure judiciaire engagée par la police d'Ahmedabad, dans l'Etat du Gujarat (Ouest), contre la rédaction du Times of India pour "sédition" et "conspiration", des atteintes graves à la sûreté de l'Etat.

Le commissaire de police OP Mathur, nouvellement nommé dans la capitale du Gujarat, a déposé plainte, le 1er juin 2008, contre le rédacteur en chef de l'édition d'Ahmedabad, un correspondant et un photographe du quotidien national Times of India, après que des articles avaient mis en doute sa capacité à assurer la sécurité de la population face au terrorisme et au crime organisé. L'officier de police a estimé que les reporters ont enfreint les sections 124a (sédition) et 120b (conspiration criminelle) du code pénal indien, en mettant en cause son intégrité et son autorité. Les personnes reconnues coupables de telles atteintes à la sécurité de l'Etat sont passibles de plusieurs années de prison et même de la peine de mort.

L'Editors Guild of India a dénoncé "une utilisation abusive de la poursuite pour sédition à l'encontre des médias, contraire aux libertés garanties par la Constitution". Une manifestation de journalistes a été organisée, le 2 juin, devant le commissariat d'Ahmedabad, pour défendre la liberté d'expression.

Le porte-parole du Parti du Congrès et membre du Parlement, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, a de son côté condamné l'action du chef de la police : "Ni une contestation, ni un désaccord, ni même une forte critique ne constituent une sédition." "Les officiers de police ne doivent pas se laisser aller à la folie des grandeurs en se plaçant au même rang que la Nation", a-t-il ajouté en conseillant au commissaire OP Mathur de "réviser le code pénal".

-- 

--
Vincent Brossel
Asia - Pacific Desk
Reporters Sans Frontières
47 rue Vivienne
75002 Paris
33 1 44 83 84 70
33 1 45 23 11 51 (fax)
asia@rsf.org
www.rsf.org

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