By TCN News,
Mumbai: Citizens from different walks of life in Mumbai and Maharashtra have condemned the life imprisonment sentence to Dr Binayak Sen and demanded that he be granted bail immediately and the appeal to this scandalous pronouncement be heard by the higher courts forthwith.
“The judgement is appalling upholding as it does charges of sedition against a man who struggled for the rights of India’s adivasis and one who opted for a life among the voiceless. Not only was the case framed by a vindictive state of Chhatisgarh, a false and motivated one u/s 120(b) 124(a) of the IPC and u/s 1,2,3,5 of the Chhatisgarh Special Public Security Act and section 39(2) of the UAPA (2004 amended), the conviction sets a dangerous trend for India’s judiciary,” the citizens said in a statement.
“Such signals from our courts are directly aimed at human rights defenders who tirelessly expose state terror, rights violations by counter terrorism forces like salva judum, and the central and state paramilitary, while espousing the path of non violence. Apart from a unjust and unfair persecution of Dr Binayak Sen and his family, such a verdict that ignores the fundamental rights and civil liberties of the people while privileging the brute force of the state machinery actively ensure that the critical spaces for dissent that allow struggle for justice, critical in a living, breathing democracy shrink, pushing persons to extremes,” said the release.
The statement has been signed by eminent personalities including: Alyque Padamsee, Cyrus Guzder, Maulana Azhari Malegaon, Teesta Setalvad, Javed Anand and Cedric Prakash. The statement has been released by Citizens for Justice and Peace, Mumbai.