Mangalore, Jan 2: Transparency International India (TII), the accredited India chapter of Transparency International, an international civil society organisation seeking to promote transparent and ethical governance and to eradicate corruption, has in a written communication slammed the Mangalore Police for arresting journalist Naveen Soorinje in connection with the homestay attack case.
The copy of the written communication made by TII to Mangalore Police Commissioner which was made available to media persons by PB D'Sa of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) on Wednesday, states that there is “zero justification” of Mr. Soorinje's “wrongful arrest”.
“Formal Notice is served on the Police Department as far as the infringement of the rights of journalist – Naveen Soorinje is concerned, that liquidated damages quantified at Rupees One Lakh per day will be recoverable from the police officers individually responsible for his wrongful arrest and retention in custody. There is zero justification either for his arrest or for the police insisting that he should be retained in custody except for the fact that the Department is acting at the behest of certain interested parties and secondly, that the whole action is malafide because the Police Department and the individual police officers stood exposed for their complicity with communal elements and have tried to hit back at the journalist who carried the exposure of reports. Thirdly, it is an attempt by the police department to terrorise the journalistic fraternity and the electronic media into not carrying any reports where the police officers have acted in breach of law”, the letter states.
TII has formally called upon the police to do an independent review of the case to “revoke the wrongful action and discharge the journalist in question”.
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