Activist Rejaz Sydeek completes one year in jail without trial in UAPA case
Nagpur: Rejaz Sydeek was detained on the night of May 07 last year from his hotel room in Nagpur, Indian state of Maharashtra. His arrest was registered the next day, and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) was invoked a week later.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Sydeek MB took a long leave from his post-retirement job in April this year, assuming he must be available to support his son, Rejaz M. Sheeba Sydeek, an activist and independent journalist, who has been in jail for a year under India’s terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
“What if I have to go for some bail arrangements? He needs me for mental and physical support,” the 60-year-old said. But his primary concern is the loneliness his wife, Sheeba, would feel at their flat in Kerala’s Ernakulam.
Sheeba said Rejaz was the one who made their home “alive” since their elder son moved abroad a few years back. Now their days revolve around 10-minute calls during weekdays and a weekly 20-minute video conference with Rejaz, who is lodged in Nagpur Central Jail in Maharashtra.
Rejaz was detained on the night of May 07 last year from his hotel room in Nagpur. His arrest was registered the next day, and UAPA was invoked a week later.
A police custody remand application filed by the Anti-Terrorism Squad said they seized Marxist-Leninist literature and electronic devices allegedly linked to the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation from him.
The report detailed accusations that the defendant used social media to spread anti-government sentiment and maintained digital contact with individuals involved in insurgent activities and previous terror cases.
The initial FIR invokes Sections 149, 192, 353(1)(b), 353(2), and 353(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, Section 67 of the Information Technology Act 2000, and Sections 38 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967.
The 27-year-old activist has long campaigned for social justice and accountability from the state apparatus. He is a vocal critic of human rights abuses and a pro-Palestinian organiser.
