New Delhi : Editors Guild of India today asked the Karnataka government to review the case against a reporter of a Kannada news channel and withdraw “unreasonable” charges against him.

Naveen Soorinje, a reporter with Kasturi Newsz24, was arrested in November 2012 after Karnataka Police invoked sections in Criminal Procedure Code dealing with “rioting with deadly weapons” and using criminal force on a woman after he recorded attack on young people staying at Morning Mist, a homestay, in Mangalore.

Instead of being made a witness, Sorrinje was included as one among the group of people who attacked the homestay and his name was mentioned in the FIR last July as an accused.
“The Guild appeals to the state authorities to review the case and withdraw unreasonable charges against Mr Soorinje.

“Journalists going about their work in the ordinary line of duty should not be subjected to the risk of being prosecuted on the basis of unsubstantiated charges, as that would constitute an assault on press freedom,” the Guild said in a statement.

It also regretted that Soorinje, who contracted chicken pox in jail, has been denied bail and a noted that a meeting between journalists and Karnataka Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar have not yielded any results.
The case involves an attack on the homestay allegedly by activists belonging to Hindu Jagarana Vedike in July last year.

Deccan Herald