A young climate activist Disha Ravi has been detained in India on Monday over a farmers’ protest toolkit, shared by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who called for her release.
The arrest of the 21-year-old climate activist caused nationwide outrage.
According to the BBC, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal described her arrest as an “unprecedented attack on democracy”.
Ravi is also one of the Fridays For Future local wing organisers, a social initiative started by Thunberg.
An alliance of advocacy organisations called for Ravi’s release and said they were “extremely concerned about her safety and well-being”.
Accused of sedition and treason, Ravi broke down in court and told the judge that she had only edited two lines of the text.
India’s government accused Ravi of being a “key conspirator” of the “toolkit” inciting “formulation and dissemination”.
“I did not make the toolkit. We wanted to support the farmers. I edited two lines on February 3,” Ravi told the court, according to the NDTV news site.
Ravi’s arrest and detention was labelled “completely atrocious” and “unwarranted harassment and intimidation” by Jairam Ramesh, a former minister and lawmaker for the opposition Congress party. According to Al Jazeera.
According to NDTV, the Delhi High Court, in a 2019 order, says: “Endeavour should be made to obtain transit remand after producing the arrestee before the nearest Magistrate… unless exigencies of the situation warrant otherwise.”
Questions have been asked about the fact that during her hearing, Ravi did not have a lawyer – a fact identified in a Facebook post by criminal lawyer Rebecca John, who has been monitoring the case, as “a shocking abdication of judicial duties.”
Later on Monday, local media announced that two more activists were arrested, Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Muluk.
