UK: Demonstration outside Indian High Commission on May 14th
Press Release
Demonstration outside Indian High Commission on 14th May 2009 to mark second anniversary of human rights campaigner’s incarceration on trumped-up charges
Hundreds of campaigners from across the UK, including several academics and doctors, will mark May 14th, 2009, by staging a huge protest outside of the Indian High Commission in London between 2pm and 6pm. On this day, Dr Binayak Sen – award winning doctor and civil rights activist – will have languished in increasingly bad health for two years in an Indian jail being denied bail and proper medical attention
Dr. Binayak Sen was arrested on what Amnesty International has called ‘trumped up’ charges on 14th May 2007. The state alleges that he was a conduit for Maoist insurgents, in particular delivering letters for a senior Maoist leader in jail. To date, the authorities have failed to provide a shred of concrete evidence in the case against Sen. As former Supreme Court Judge, V.R. Krishna Iyer points out, to date the case has not “thrown up even a shred of evidence to justify any of the charges against him”. A paediatrician by training, Sen had been working for decades with adivasis (tribals) in Chhattisgarh where he helped establish a hospital for mine- workers and was a leading critic against state violence in the region. Sen’s outstanding work in the field of public health and commitment to human rights has been acknowledged by the Indian Academy of Sciences’ Keithan Gold Medal in 2007 and the Global Health Council’s Jonathan Mann Award in 2008 .
Sen’s arrest shows manifest evidence of an increasing trend worldwide to silence peaceful dissent by imprisoning lawful humanitarian activists on charges of terrorism. (He was arrested under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, an enactment that in common with most anti-terror legislation across the world effectively criminalizes peaceful protest and throttles criticism of the state). Since Sen’s arrest, a swelling tide of protest in India and across the world has publicized the Indian state’s war on dissent, and sought to exert pressures towards Sen’s release on bail, pending a fair and swift trial. International solidarity initiatives have included demonstrations in London, San Francisco, New York, and Washington in the last year; letters of protest signed by Nobel Laureates, academics and civil liberties activists; an Early Day Motion in Parliament in the U.K. To find out more please visit www.binayaksen.net
The organisers of this event, human rights activists who have come together as the Release Binayak Sen Now Campaign, can be contacted at:
Email: releasebinayaksennow@gmail.com
Further information, contact: Radha D’Souza (07799176500), Vaskar Saha (07931521428), Amrit Wilson (07846873341)
Documents for press
Early Day Motion
UK Parliament, Sponsored by Jeremy Corby, MP, May 2009
Appeals
1. Nobel Laureate Letter, 2008
2. Guardian Letter April 2009 (attached, full list of signatories )
3. Ilina Sen’s letter, 2009: The Indian Police and the Threat to the Life of Dr. Binayak Sen
Editorials/Statements
1. Amnesty International Press Release, April 23, 2009: Call for Binayak Sen’s Release Prisoner of Conscience Dr. Binayak Sen Completes Two Years in India Jail
2. Justice Krishna Iyer’s plea. April 19, 2009: Krishna Iyer’s plea on behalf of Binayak Sen
3. The Lancet Editorial, April 4, 2009: A Right to A Fair Trial, A Right to Life
Release Binayak Sen Now (UK)
1. Petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/binayaksen14May/index.html
2. Binayak Sen Interview, Indian Express, April 25, 2009: Interview with Binayak Sen,
Citation/Awards to Binayak Sen
1. Global Health Council’s Jonathan Mann Award Citation: http://www.globalhealth.org/news/article/9833
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