PCI member Prasanna Mohanty condemns arrest of Malkangir scribes, demands their immediate release
By Swagatika Bhutia
Bhubaneswar, Dec. 12: Odisha’s Malkangiri police have arrested five journalists who were discharging their professional responsibilities on December 18 night.
Press Council of India member and Secretary General of National Union of Journalists (India) Prasanna Mohanty has strongly reacted to the unwarranted arrest of the scribes.
In a statement, Mr Mohanty said the arrest is highly distressing and shocking, too.
He demanded immediate and unconditional release of the scribes.
“Reports from Malkangiri say that five journalists were grudgingly arrested as they were trying to bring to the fore the alleged negligence at the district headquarters hospital. Journalists, as the watchdogs of the society, have the moral rights and responsibility to bring to the light any such lapses in the system. The administration, instead of taking such punitive measures to muzzle press freedom, should have shown the courage to appreciate their work. Instead, they have attempted to falsely implicate them,” the PCI member observed.
He stated that he would bring to the knowledge of the Press Council of India (PCI) about this blatant misuse of power and authority by the Malkangiri district administration.
In fact, Mr Mohanty has informed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik through a tweet and urged him for his immediate intervention to secure release of the journalists.
