The decision of the Karnataka Assembly resolution to jail two scribes for their alleged defamation has become a major issue in the State with the Amnesty International India asking the legislative Assembly to withdraw its resolution to jail the scribes. In a statement issued in Bengaluru on Friday, Amnesty has asked the Assembly to withdraw its resolution to jail two journalists to a years’ imprisonment for the alleged defamation on legislators.
On Wednesday, Karnataka Assembly Speaker KB Koliwad had imposed a one-year jail term and a fine of Rs 10,000 each on Anil Raj and Ravi Belagere, the editors of two local tabloids that had allegedly published defamatory articles on two MlAs.
Raj of Yalahanka Voice had published an article on BJP MlA Vishwanath, while Belagere of Kannada weekly Hi Bangalore had published an article on Shiraguppa Congress MlA Nagaraj.
According to Asmita Basu, programmes director at Amnesty International India, Journalists should have the freedom to write and politicians must tolerate the criticism. She said “Journalists must have the freedom to write critical articles, and politicians must be able to tolerate criticism. If individuals feel that their reputations have been affected, they can take recourse to civil defamation remedies in court.”