September 10, 2012
Aseem Trivedi Refuses Bail On Sedition Charges; Jailed
The saga of Indian cartoonist Aseem Trivedi's facing sedition charges for cartoons posted to his web site reached the arrest warrant point over the weekend;
earlier today the cartoonist surrendered to the court, refused bail, and was jailed until September 24. According to the linked-to article, the severe backlash via social media and now more traditional press outlets has set a number of government officials scrambling for a less-noxious outcome. A government official accused the cartoonist of posting seditious content in a complaint back in December; an arrest has seemed imminent since late August, which has really allowed the criticism to reach a furious, steaming level.
You can look at Trivedi's cartoons
here. His quotes are incredible, too, like, "If telling the truth makes me a traitor then I am one."
Hopefully the charges will be dismissed immediately and the horrible example for a democracy of authorities arresting an artist for the content of their criticism will help reorient that political debate moving forward in a way that's not so ridiculously anti-free speech. Trivedi's situation seems to come as part of a couple of trends: first, the attempt by political persons in several countries to suppress criticism through a court system that allows a criminal complaint to be made by hiring a lawyer, or severe civil claims lobbied against an artist by the political figure directly; second, a series of really dubious actions by Mumbai police authorities in terms of trying to quell such speech through intimidation and now arrest.
In May, Trivedi
shared with Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat this year's Courage In Editorial Cartooning Award from the Cartoonists Rights Network International -- the award ceremony is this weekend. Trivedi received that award for launching the Cartoons Against Corruption web site and his general advocacy for free speech right in the case of crippling cronyism and bullying by authorities.
posted 6:00 am PST |
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