[Reader-list] S A R Geelani Acquitted in Delhi High Court

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear all on this list,

If you recall, there have been several postings on this list regarding the 
attack on the Indian parliament on December 13, 2001 and the detention and 
harrassment that S A R Geelani, a lecturer in Arabic at Zakir Husain college 
had to face - as one of the alleged co conspirators in the attack.

The good news is - the Delhi high court, acquitted S A R Geelani, and his co 
accused Navjot Sandhu (alias Afsan Guru) who were both convicted under POTA. 
Geelani had been sentenced to death in the POTA court.

Many of us have been convinced that the charge of conspiracy against S A R 
Geelani in the case of the attack against the Indian parliament was entirely 
fictional, and that it betrayed the desparation of the security apparatus of 
the state which required such colourful conspiracy theories to bolster an 
aggressive military posture throughout 2001, and introduce draconian laws 
like POTA under cover of the so called 'War Against Terror'

The flimsiness of the evidence presented by the prosecution against Geelani 
will always remain a reminder of the length to which the state will go to try 
and prove its case. The callousness of the previous judgement, which 
sentenced Geelani to death, will also stand as a reminder of the depths that 
the judiciary can plumb. 

Its time to cheer all those who stood by S A R Geelani, all his lawyers, 
friends, family, people within the academic community and civil rights 
activists, people who spoke up for him in court, the few journalists who 
followed the case without fear, favour and prejudice and everyone who was a 
part of the SAR Geelani Defence Committee.

It is also time for us to demand apologies from the media networks that 
demonized Geelani in tv reports and films, the journalists who went along 
with the planting of false stories in the press by the police and the 
prosecution, the editors who wrote insinuating editorials, those in the 
academic community in Delhi university who dithered on standing by him and 
his family at a time when they most needed support. The conduct of the 
mainstream media, on the whole has been utterly, disgustingly shameful.  Zee 
news for instance, went to town, with an 'exclusive' docu drama that 
characterized Geelani as a machievallian monster, even while the trial was in 
process. 

There were a few significant exceptions - such as Shams Tahir Khan of Aaj Tak 
- whose testimony about the police's attempts to influence the content of 
news reports was an important contribution to Geelani's defence in court, 
Anjali Modi in the Hindu - whose persistent reportage of the trial was 
exemplary, and a few editorials in the Indian Express that stood out in terms 
of not buying into the police versions of the story.

Geelani will go home a free man, but more than two years of torture and 
harrassement, mental anguish, and the damage done to his reputation is not 
something that can be compensated for easily. Preliminary reports suggest 
that the Delhi police may appeal against the acquittal in the Supreme Court, 
if this is indeed the case, then Geelani's tribulations are far from over, 
and there will remain a need to stay vigilant about this case.

Finally, I am sure that there are many people like Geelani in this country 
and around the world who are unfairly accused, unjustly imprisoned, and 
summarily sentenced. Geelani was fortunate to have been someone in Delhi, to 
have had friends and colleagues , and good lawyears, who were prepared to 
stand by him, and whose word could not be dismissed. He had someone of the 
stature of Rajni Kothari chair a defence committee in his name. While we 
celebrate Geelani's acquital (as we should), we could spare a thought for all 
those who must be suffering just as Geelani and his family have suffered, and 
whom we know nothing at all about.

I enclose below, the report on rediff.com this morning of Geelani's acquittal.

regards

Shuddha

______________________________________________________
Geelani, Navjot Sandhu acquitted
Onkar Singh in New Delhi | October 29, 2003 11:05 IST
http://in.rediff.com/news/2003/oct/29parl.htm
 

A division bench of the Delhi high court on Wednesday acquitted S A R Geelani 
and Navjot Sandhu alias Afsan Guru, the lone woman convicted in the December 
13, 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament.

Earlier, Geelani had been convicted and sentenced under POTA and various 
provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being part of the 
conspiracy and waging war against the state, while Sandhu was charged with 
concealing the conspiracy and sentenced to five years imprisonment.

The bench also upheld the verdict of a special POTA court holding 
Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists Mohammed Afzal and Shaukat Hussain Guru guilty of 
waging war against the State and the award of death sentence.

Shaukat Hussain Guru is Navjot Sandhu's husband.

The bench comprising Justice Usha Mehra and Justice Pradeep Nandrajog 
accepted the state's appeal to enhance the punishment awarded to Afzal and 
Shaukat under Section 121 (A) of the IPC from life imprisonment to the death 
penalty.