Indian journalist Siddique Kappan, who was held in jail for two years without trial, has walked free after being granted bail in a case human rights groups alleged was politically motivated.
Kappan, a Muslim journalist from the southern state of Kerala, was arrested in October 2020 as he was on his way to the northern state of Uttar Pradesh to report on the high-profile case of a Dalit girl who was gang-raped and later died.
Kappan, along with three others, was picked up by Uttar Pradesh police and accused of belonging to an Islamist fundamentalist group and being part of a conspiracy to incite violence among Muslims.
He was charged under draconian anti-terrorism laws and accused by police of having “deep links” to the Popular Front of India, a Muslim organisation that was not banned at the time of his arrest but has subsequently been outlawed.
In December 2020, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists alleged that Kappan had been “beaten thrice and subjected to mental torture during custody”.
Kappan denied all charges and was eventually granted bail by the supreme court back in September, who said he had “the right to freedom of expression”. Nevertheless, he was kept in jail for another four months after money-laundering charges were levelled at him by a central government agency.
He was also granted bail in that case in December but the authorities dragged their feet in releasing him over technicalities. On Thursday morning, a visibly emotional Kappan walked free from Lucknow jail.
“This is half-baked justice,” he told reporters outside the prison. “Journalism is not a crime. I will continue my fight against draconian laws. They kept me in jail even after I got bail … 28 months after a long fight. I don’t know who’s benefiting from my being in jail. These two years were very tough, but I was never afraid.”
Kappan’s wife, Raihanath Kappan, and their three children were waiting for him at the prison gates. “Two-and-a-half years is not a short time,” she said. “We have experienced a lot of pain and suffering. But I am happy that justice, though belated, has been served.”
Global indignation had grown around Kappan’s prolonged imprisonment, with the Committee to Protect Journalists calling the charges “bogus”. Kappan’s case had been cited by press freedom and human rights groups as an example of the increasingly oppressive environment for journalists since the government of prime minister Narendra Modi took power in 2014.
India has slipped 10 places in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom ranking to 150 out of 180 as critical journalists and media outlets have been harassed online and hit with criminal charges. Nine journalists are still in Indian prisons, according to Reporters Without Borders.
