Human rights defenders term it as an attempt to “intensify the harassment of the human rights defender, and to repress her legitimate work in the defence of human rights.
TCN News,
Dublin (Ireland): The announcement of a travel ban on human rights defender Teesta Setalvad one week before the Supreme Court proceedings on granting her bail, has drawn criticism from Front Line Defenders, an international platform for defending human right activists.
A travel ban was imposed on Setalvad on June 29, 2015 by a Sessions Court, one week before the Supreme Court hearing.
“The human rights defender was invited to an international seminar in Brazil and applied for permission to travel, as her passport has been in the custody of the local Courts since October 2014 due to the pending charges against her. Previously, on May 2, 2015 the court granted Setalvad permissions to travel to South Korea and Indonesia,” Front Line Defenders said in a statement.
The human rights defender submitted an appeal against the travel ban before the Gujarat High Court. The hearing on this matter is expected to take place on July 7 or 8, 2015.
Front Line Defenders is the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. It was founded in Dublin in 2001 with the specific aim of protecting human rights defenders at risk, people who work, non-violently, for any or all of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
The travel ban was imposed on the human rights defender one week before the upcoming hearing on her case before the Supreme Court of India, which puts additional pressure on Setalvad as she attempts to continue her legitimate human rights work.
“Front Line Defenders expresses its concern at the travel ban imposed on Teesta Setalvad and continuous harassment against her, as it believes the travel ban to be an attempt to intensify the harassment of the human rights defender, and to repress her legitimate work in the defence of human rights,” it added.
Earlier too, pointing out that the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) decided to refer human rights defenders Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for investigation on June 26, 2015, the Front Line Defenders have demanded that any investigation into their or their NGO be grounded on objective evidence and are carried out in proper legal manner, including ending of attempts to open multiple parallel investigations.
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