Reporter who accused local police of corruption is charged with sedition
| Publisher | Reporters Without Borders |
| Publication Date | 15 October 2009 |
| Cite as | Reporters Without Borders, Reporter who accused local police of corruption is charged with sedition, 15 October 2009, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4adc7a83c.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Laxman Choudhury, a newspaper reporter based Gajapati (in the eastern state of Orissa) who has written about alleged local police links with organised crime, has been detained for more than three weeks on a sedition charge in Bhubaneswar, the state capital, on the grounds that he was sent Maoist leaflets in the mail.
"Choudhury's arbitrary and unjustifiable arrest by the Gajapati police violated the Indian constitution," Reporters Without Borders said. "He is the victim of an act of revenge by local authorities who were worried by his revelations. We call for his immediate release and the withdrawal of all charges against him."
A reporter for the daily newspaper Sambad, Choudhury was arrested on 20 September in possession of Maoist leaflets he had received in the mail.
Sampad Mohapatra, NDTV's Orissa bureau chief, told Reporters Without Borders: "The police wanted to teach him a lesson for exposing their connivance with the local mafia. Laxman had received the leaflets like a dozen other journalists, including me. The Maoists send their press releases and leaflets to reporters on a regular basis. They constitute news material and receiving them can under no circumstances be regarded as evidence of Maoist links."
When a delegation of four journalists went to see Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnai, he promised to order an investigation into the allegations that Chaudhury's arrest was an act of revenge. Choudhury is meanwhile still waiting to appear before the Orissa high court on charges of sedition.
"Laxman is a working journalist and does not deserve such treatment," Mohapatra added. "We have condemned the police action and we expect the state government to behave responsibly when dealing with any member of the media fraternity."
