Amnesty International welcomes bail for Soni Sori, Lingaram Kodopi

Amnesty International has welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court to grant permanent bail to Soni Sori, the tribal rights activist who was accused by Chhattisgarh’s Raman Singh government of helping the Naxals. The top court had granted her interim bail in November last year. [caption id=“attachment_1378647” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Protest for Soni Sori. PTI image[/caption] The Supreme Court had come to the rescue of Sori and her nephew Lingaram Kodopi, a journalist-cum-activist, in November last year. She had been in Raipur jail since October, 2011 after being arrested by Chhattisgarh police in a case lodged against them for allegedly receiving money from Essar Group on behalf of the Naxals. Amnesty International has also called upon the Chhattisgarh government to take note of this verdict and immediately and unconditionally drop all remaining charges against the two Adivasi activists. The Supreme Court granted bail to the duo more than two years after they were arrested on what Amnesty considers are false charges levelled against them for criticizing the human rights violations of security forces in Chhattisgarh. “This is a very encouraging development and we welcome the Supreme Court’s verdict which gives hope for the human rights movement in Chhattisgarh,” said Shashikumar Velath, Programmes Director at Amnesty International India. “Soni Sori and Lingaram Kodopi were kept under detention merely to silence their struggle for accountability and justice in Chhattisgarh."