Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan, arrested in Uttar Pradesh on charges of inciting violence and sedition, was released from jail on Thursday morning after 27 months of arrest and more than a month after being granted a conditional bail in two cases.
The journalist, who was booked by the UP government under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), walked free after a special court in Lucknow signed the order for his release.
Speaking to the media after his release, Kappan asserted that he will continue his fight against unlawful laws.
“They kept me in jail even after my bail. I don’t know who’s benefiting from my being in jail. These two years were very tough, but I was never afraid,” he said.
On December 23 last, the high court granted conditional bail to Siddique Kappan. After getting bail from the high court, Special Judge of PMLA Court Sanjay Shankar Pandey ordered Kappan to be released on bail on furnishing two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a surety of the like amount.
On behalf of Kappan, bail bonds were filed in the court on January 9 last. On this, the court ordered the verification of the status of the sureties. On Wednesday, the sureties and the documents filed by them were verified after which the court had ordered the release of the accused.
Kappan was arrested in October 2020 while he was on way to Hathras to report on the alleged gang rape and death of a 20-year-old Dalit woman that triggered protests across the country.
The journalist was accused of sedition and charged under the tough anti-terror law UAPA. In February 2022, the Enforcement Directorate filed a money laundering case against him, accusing him of receiving money from the banned People’s Front of India.
In September last year, the Supreme Court granted him bail after observing that no formal charges were filed against him and a document named “Toolkit” recovered by the state police only propagated a call for justice in the rape case.
He got bail in the money laundering case three months later. But his release was held up due to multiple bureaucratic lapses.