PRESS FREEDOM ALERT: SAKSHI CRACKDOWN IN AP

PRESS FREEDOM ALERT: SAKSHI CRACKDOWN IN AP (Condemnation: PCI & EGI, September 2025)

The Andhra Pradesh Police have launched a ‘systematic hounding’ against Sakshi Editor Dhanunjaya Reddy and journalists. This involves multiple FIRs filed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for publishing reports critical of the government (e.g., Opposition pressers, spurious liquor trade).

Police are selectively using severe BNS sections, including 353(2) (Public Mischief) and 196(1) (Promoting Enmity). This action is widely condemned by media bodies as weaponizing criminal law to silence inconvenient reporting.

While the AP High Court has granted interim protection to journalists, police pressure is escalating with repeated notices (Oct 2025), creating a severe chilling effect on free press.

Can press freedom survive when criminal law is weaponized against journalists?

#DefendJournalism #StopTheHounding #APPressFreedom #BNSMisuse

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