Editors of Manipur news website arrested, charged under UAPA

By Team Newsable | First Published Jan 18, 2021, 1:34 PM IST

The Frontier Manipur executive editor Paojel Chaoba and editor-in-chief Dhiren Sadokpam were arrested by the Manipur Police on Sunday and have been charged with sedition.

Imphal (Manipur): Two editors of a Manipur-based news portal—The Frontier Manipur, have been arrested and charged with sedition under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) over the publication of one article that criticised the state’s militancy movement, as per reports.

According to a report published by The Indian Express, The Frontier Manipur executive editor Paojel Chaoba and editor-in-chief Dhiren Sadokpam were arrested by the Manipur Police on Sunday and have been charged with sedition.

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They have also been charged under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 505(b) (causing alarm to induce offence against the state), and 34 (common intention), as well as the UAPA’s Section 39 (supporting terror organisation).

The article titled—“Revolutionary journey in a mess” was first published by the portal on January 8. Authored by M Joy Luwang, the article criticises Manipur's “armed revolutionary groups” for straying from the “revolutionary cause”.

A first information report or FIR was filed by the state police suo moto, or out of its own accord, which named the author of the articles and the two editors as accused.

This is not the first case of FIR against journalists. In 2018, TV news anchor In late 2018, Kishorchandra Wangkhem, was detained for four-and-a-half months under NSA for allegedly derogatory comments against the BJP government in the state and CM N Biren Singh. He is once again under arrest in a separate case.

In 2020, sedition charges were brought against Manipuri activist Erendro Leichombam over a Facebook post.

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