Imam was arrested in 2020 after police in five different states – Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh – filed first information reports against him in connection with speeches he made during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register for Citizens (NRC). Among other charges, he was charged under sedition and subsequently under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and also named as an accused in the Delhi riots “larger conspiracy” case.
Imam has spent four years in jail, despite not being convicted in any of the cases.vhttps://thewire.in/rights/sharjeel-imam-jail-uapa-activist-civil-society-support
Four years since he was arrested, the Delhi high court has listed Imam’s bail plea 46 times, and is now set to hear his plea afresh next month in connection to the Delhi riots case under FIR 59/2020. His bail plea under the first FIR 20/2020 under which he was arrested in connection with his speeches, will also begin afresh next month in a lower court in Delhi.
29/01/2024