On Tuesday night, the UN Human Rights Office, which is headed by Michelle Bachelet, said it was “very concerned” with the arrest of the the activist and the former Gujarat police officers. They were arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on June 25 for an alleged conspiracy to send innocent persons to jail by misleading the SIT formed to investigate the 2002 riots cases.

Calling for their immediate release, the UN body said, “They must not be persecuted for their activism and solidarity with the victims of the 2002 #GujaratRiots.”

Responding to these comments, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the remarks by the UN Human Rights Office are “completely unwarranted and constitute an interference in India’s independent judicial system”.

“Authorities in India act against violations of law strictly in accordance with established judicial processes. Labelling such legal actions as persecution for activism is misleading and unacceptable,” the statement said.

Several rights, media and international bodies have condemned the trio’s arrest. The Supreme Court has also come under criticism for an observation in its June 24 judgment, rejecting the allegation of a larger conspiracy behind the anti-Muslim violence. The top court said that the petitioners – Zakia Jafri and Setalvad – had engaged in an “abuse of process” by pursuing the allegations of a larger conspiracy for several years and “need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law”.

The Gujarat police’s FIR against Setalvad, Bhatt and Sreekumar also cites this portion of the judgment.

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