[PTI Photo via Twitter.]
Mumbai/Ahmedabad: An official of the United Nations while condemning the detention of Human Rights Activist Teesta Setalvad Saturday demanded her immediate release.
Mary Lawlor, the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders also said "defending human right is not a crime".
"Deeply concerned by reports of Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRD) Teesta Setalvad being detained by Anti Terrorism Sqaud of Gujarat police", she wrote.
"Teesta is a strong voice against hatred and discrimination. Defending human rights is not a crime", she wrote on Twitter.
"I call for her release and an end to persecution by Indian state", she added.
Meanwhile, an Ahmedabad Court Sunday sent Teesta Setalvad and former state DGP R.B. Sreekumar to five days police custody.
While the two were to be produced again in the Court Friday, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate granted permission to produce them on Saturday, as police requested the court that they are busy on July 1st due to Jagannath Yatra.
Setalvad complained to the court that she was picked up from Mumbai without any arrest warrant, and also questioned whether it justified to arrest her on the basis of FIR.
She also alleged that she was illegally kept in custody from 3 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. on Saturday, and for a forgery case, Gujarat Police sent an ATS team to arrest her.
She also submitted that she is cooperating with the investigation team.
Setalvad was represented by advocate Somnath Vats and Sreekumar by advocate S.M. Vora.
On the other hand, Special Public Prosecutor Mitesh Amin submitted that police need their custody for 14 days, because they need to investigate who was funding the Setalvad's NGO, and who was instigating to run a malicious campaign against the state government.
"Police need their custody to investigate who helped them to forge documents, who hatched the conspiracy and why", he said, alleging, "They did all this to mislead the judicial process."
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