Gender: Male

Current Location: Tihar Jail, Delhi

Perpetrator: India

Religion or Belief: Muslim – Unspecified/Other

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Date of Detainment: April/1/2020

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment

Reason for Persecution: Protesting Religious Freedom Conditions Religious Identity

Nature of Charges: Criminal Premeditation & Conspiracy Hate Speech Illicit Financing Murder & Attempted Murder Public Disorder Terrorism Treason & Sedition

Meeran Haider

Extra Bio Info:

Meeran Haider is detained for protesting religious freedom conditions.

On April 1, 2020, authorities arrested Haider, a Muslim student activist, after accusing him of inciting communal violence during the 2020 Delhi riots. Haider was targeted for leading peaceful protests opposing the religiously discriminatory Citizen Amendment Act (CAA). Authorities charged Haider under FIR 59/2020 with offenses under the IPC, 1967 Arms Act, and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Charges include but are not limited to rioting (Sec. 147 IPC), rioting with a deadly weapon (Sec. 148 IPC), murder (Sec. 302 IPC), attempted murder (Sec. 307 IPC), sedition (Sec. 124A IPC), "promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony" (Sec. 153A IPC), unlawful activities (Sec. 13 UAPA), terrorist acts (Sec. 16 UAPA), raising funds for terrorist acts (Sec. 17 UAPA), and conspiracy (Sec. 18 UAPA).

On June 26, 2020, several UN experts called for the release of Haider and other protestors, saying that their arrests seem "clearly designed to send a chilling message...that criticism of government policies will not be tolerated."

Related Cases: Umar Khalid, Shifa ur-Rehman, Sharjeel Imam, Natasha Narwal, Khalid Saifi, Ishrat Jehan, Gulfisha Fatima, Devangana Kalita, Safoora Zargar, Asif Iqbal Tanha

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