Withdraw false case against Shahina K K, Support Press Freedom

To,

Shri Hans Raj Bhardwaj,Honorable Governor of Karnataka
Raj Bhavan, Raj Bhavan Road
Bangalore 560 001 India

Respected Sir,

We are gravely concerned about the charges framed by Karnataka police against Shahina K K, a journalist working for the Tehelka Magazine, for interviewing witnesses and publishing a report on the case relating to Abdul Nasar Madani, the Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who is one of the accused in the Bangalore bomb blasts. After the publication of her report, Why is this man still in jail? (Dec 4, 2010) Shahina has been facing harassment and intimidation from the Karnataka Police. A case has been registered against her at the Somawarpet Police Station (No. 199/10) and Siddhapura Police Station (No. 241/10) under Section 506 for allegedly intimidating the witnesses.

We strongly condemn this attitude of the police in framing false charges on this reputed journalist with such high credentials in a nationally reputed magazine. We also feel that Shahinas case is yet another example of how the State apparatus acts against its marginalized and minority communities and pushes them outside the orbit of legal justice and human rights. Madani's acquittal without any charges/strictures after 10 long years of incarceration without bail in an earlier case proves that there has been victims of such an ideological bias.

We also know that by registering a case for criminal intimidation against a journalist, the Karnataka Police has cut at the very root of democratic and media freedoms in our country. We strongly feel that this is not a case against her as an individual but a warning to the entire press community, women and minorities and anyone who questions the logic of a repressive State. Moreover, we are aware that if the police can go to this extent in the case of a reputed journalist, the status of ordinary members of the marginalized and minority communities remains highly threatened.

Therefore we demand the following:

1. Withdraw all cases against K K Shahina
2. Conduct an Independent enquiry into her harassment by the police
3. Allow journalists to investigate the Madani case without further harassment
4. Ensure a fair trial for Madani in the light of the reports by journalists like Shahina and other independent members of civil society




Cc
Shri B S Yeddyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka
Justice Shri K G Balakrishnan, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission
Justice Shri Subray Rama Nayak, Chairperson, State Human Rights Commission
Shri P Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs
Chairperson, Press Council of India
Director General of Police, Karnataka
Shri Gopal Pillai, Home Secretary