Kerala Journalists Slam 'Stories' In UP Chargesheet Against Colleague
NDTV
Kerala journalist Siddiqui Kappan was jailed last year when he was on his way to report the Hathras gang-rape case that triggered nationwide shock
A journalists' union in Kerala has condemned the Uttar Pradesh Police for inserting stories written by a journalist from the southern state in a chargesheet against him for allegedly "trying to further the terror agenda" of the banned outfit Student's Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
Kerala journalist Siddiqui Kappan was jailed last year when he was on his way to report the Hathras gang-rape case that triggered nationwide shock.
Thirty-six articles written by Mr Kappan - accused of having links to the Popular Front of India (PFI), an outfit the Yogi Adityanath government wants banned - have been cited in the chargesheet.
"Kerala Union of Working Journalists is shocked to learn that the Uttar Pradesh Police has included the reports and interviews done by Siddiqui Kappan as a journalist in the chargesheet filed against him. The action of the UP Police is nothing but treating journalism as a crime. This goes against the very spirit of freedom of expression guaranteed under the Constitution," the journalists' union said in a statement today.
