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Indian court frees hunger striker after 14 years

Amnesty International hails 'legal and moral victory'
Indian court frees hunger striker after 14 years

Irom Sharmila in this file photo.

Published: August 20, 2014 09:12 AM GMT
Updated: August 19, 2014 10:38 PM GMT

A court in Manipur in northeastern India has ordered the release of a prominent activist who has staged a 14-year hunger strike.

Irom Sharmila, known as the Iron Lady of Manipur, is protesting against a controversial anti-insurgency law that gives wide-ranging powers to the armed forces.

“Irom Sharmila will be released by late evening today or by tomorrow morning,” Sharmila’s counsel Khaidem Mani told ucanews.com today.

Sharmila began her fast in November 2000 after witnessing the killing of 10 people by the army at a bus stop near her home in northeastern Manipur.

The region is subject to the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which empowers the military to use lethal force, arrest without a warrant and detain people indefinitely and without charge.

Shortly after commencing her protest Sharmila was arrested on charges of trying to commit suicide. She has spent the intervening years in detention at Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Imphal, the state capital.

But sessions judge A. Guneshwar Sharma stated on Tuesday that there is no evidence to establish that Sharmila ever intended to fast unto death, as she has not refused nose-feeding, and ordered her release.

Sevanand Sharma, a human rights lawyer based in Manipur, termed this a landmark judgement and said that people in the state are satisfied with the court’s order.

“This is what everybody has wanted for so long,” he said. “Everybody has been waiting for her release.”

Mani described hunger striking as “a legitimate form of protest”. “Even Mahatma Gandhi employed such protests and nobody considered him a criminal. Then why is Sharmila given such treatment?”

Amnesty International called the judgement "a legal and moral victory" and said Sharmila should never have been arrested in the first place.

But fears remain that Sharmila will be rearrested once the state government appeals to the High Court. Over the years, she has been released from custody, only to be rearrested a few days later.

"Until the AFSPA is repealed, she is going to continue her protest," Sharmila's brother Irom Singhajit told AFP. "That is what I fear. Even if she is released, she will be arrested again within a day or two.”

Mani said he had met with Sharmila on Wednesday morning and she “expressed her happiness on winning the legal battle”.

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