The Federation against State Repression today urged the district administration to revoke the ‘fake cases’ filed against its coordinator Parthiban. (FASR is a federation of 19 organisations including VCK and Welfare Party of India).

“Police had accused FASR’s state co-ordinator Parthiban of sending a pen drive to the inmates of Coimbatore prison. They also filed a fake case against him. Police went to Parthiban’s house at 1 a.m. and told his family members that a special team was looking for him in the Kerala Forests,” the Federataion said in its petition.
On June 13, Kerala based rights activists Rasheed and Harihara Sharma were sent to judicial custody for attempting to pass a pen drive to prison inmates Anup and Shaina. Later it was told that the pen drive contained porn in 28 folders.

“In the prison, Maoists Anup and Shaina are in a highly secured area . One needs a computer to use a pen drive… What can they possibly do with only a pen drive? The only purpose of this fabricated case is to silence Parthiban who has been getting together all democratic organisations to fight for human rights . Whoever stood up for Jallikkattu protests are now being targeted and fake cases are filed against them,” Rahoob N, member of FASR, told The Covai Post, after submitting the petition in the collectorate.

Pon. Chandran of PUCL alleged that the State had become a land of police raj. “Basic rights like freedom of expression are denied. It looks like an undeclared Emergency,” he said.

The petition demanded the revocation of fake cases filed against Parthiban, May 17 movement’s Thirumurugan Gandhi, Thamizhar Vidiyal Party’s Arun, Tyson, Ilamaran and Human rights activists Rasheed and Harihara Sharma. It also called for their immediate release.