Indian journo walks free after 2 years in jail

An Indian journalist held in custody for more than two years without trial walked free yesterday after being granted bail in a money laundering case.

Siddique Kappan was arrested in October 2020 in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where he had travelled to report on a high-profile gang rape case.

He and three others were accused of belonging to an Islamist fundamentalist group and eventually charged with conspiracy to incite violence under anti-terror laws.

Kappan has maintained his innocence and says that he had only travelled from his home state of Kerala to do his duties as a journalist.

He was bailed in the case in September last year but remained behind bars for months longer because of a separate money laundering case against him.

"I will continue my fight against draconian laws. They kept me in jail even after I got bail," he told NDTV news network after his release from jail in the city of Lucknow.