Bail Rejected for Journalist Held Under India’s Terror Laws

Media Release: India
April 10, 2012
Bail Rejected for Journalist Held Under India’s Terror Laws

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins affiliates and partners in India in calling for the review of a trial court decision denying bail to Syed Mohammad Ahmad Kazmi, a journalist held in Delhi, India’s capital city, since March 6.

Kazmi is being detained without formal charge under sections of the Explosives Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, while investigations continue into a February 13 bomb attack on a vehicle belonging to the Israeli diplomatic mission in the Indian capital.

In turning down his bail application, Delhi’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav held that global inquiries into the bombing might be compromised by his release. The Magistrate also acceded in large part to a prosecution request not to discuss evidence in open court.

On the basis of telephone and bank records placed before him, Magistrate Vinod Yadav arrived at a prima facie determination that Syed Kazmi was in contact with the actual “assailants” and may have obtained funds from foreign sources to carry out his part in the conspiracy.
Kazmi’s supporters argue that his correspondence with contacts based in Iran was most likely connected to his professional work as a correspondent for the official Iranian news agency. As a specialist on Gulf matters, he was a frequent visitor to Iran and neighbouring Arab countries.

Delhi’s top police official, Commissioner B K Gupta said soon after Kazmi’s arrest that he and his wife, Jahanara Kazmi, had been receiving foreign remittances “regularly”. Kazmi’s supporters point out that the remittances originating in the Gulf Emirate of Dubai date back four years, follow a regular monthly pattern and can all be traced to an account held by Jahanara Kazmi’s son from her first marriage to Kazmi’s long deceased elder brother.

Meanwhile, articles have appeared in sections of the Indian media, questioning the background of the police personnel investigating the February 13 incident and suggesting a disturbing tendency towards lawless behaviour, including possible involvement in extra-judicial executions.

A.G. Noorani, a highly respected commentator and expert on Indian constitutional law, has observed that the conduct of the Special Branch of Delhi Police could violate the basic principle of the presumption of innocence. “Leaks or even attributable briefings while the investigation proceeds are highly improper and, indeed, illegal”, he has said. “They constitute a clear case of contempt of court and the officials should be hauled up by the courts promptly and awarded deterrent sentences”.

Kazmi was remanded for twenty days in police custody on March 7 but transferred to judicial custody before this remand period expired, ostensibly because the Special Branch of the Delhi Police had no further need to keep him.

His bail application came up before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on March 30 but the hearing was adjourned till April 3 because prosecution lawyers were not present.

“We appeal to the authorities in India to respond to the growing concerns expressed by the media community over the prolonged incarceration of a professional colleague without formal charge”, said the IFJ Asia-Pacific.

“Kazmi must be granted the right to a prompt and fair hearing, in keeping with national and international human rights principles. If sufficient evidence cannot be found to charge him, then he should be released. Several vital principles are at stake aside from the right to liberty of an individual and his freedom to speak”.

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries

Find the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific

Find the IFJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/IFJAsiaPacific

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