New Delhi, July 30 (Inditop.com) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Thursday expressed dismay over the acquittal of the sole surviving suspect in the murder of Assam’s leading journalist Parag Kumar Das.
“We are deeply saddened that despite the lapse of so many years, justice has not been done for the slain editor,” said IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park in a statement.
Das, who was the executive editor of the Assamese-language daily Asomiya Pratidin, was shot dead in a busy part of Guwahati in May 1996 while picking up his son from school.
The case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the state government after Assam Police could not make any headway in the first two years.
Four people, all surrendered militants of the separatist insurgent group, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), were formally indicted for the crime in 2000. By the time the trial began in 2004, all except one of the accused, Mridul Phukan, had died.
However, in a judgement earlier this week, a district and sessions court is understood to have pointed out several loopholes in the CBI inquiry which included failure to come up with any concrete and conclusive evidence against Phukan.
The IFJ said it lent its full support to numerous journalists unions and associations in Assam, who have demanded that the acquittal be appealed in the Guwahati High Court.
The trial judge reportedly issued severe strictures against the investigating agency for failing to produce any substantive evidence linking the suspect to the crime.
“We urge the investigating authorities to remedy all procedural lapses and gather the evidence required to bring those responsible for the heinous murder of a distinguished Indian editor to account,” Park said.
The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries
