Washington, DC – Freedom Now welcomes the release of academic and activist G.N. Saibaba after nearly 10 years of wrongful detention. Saibaba was serving a life sentence on a series of terrorism charges related to his activism on behalf of minority groups. The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court acquitted Saibaba and ordered his release on March 5, 2024, finding the prosecution presented insufficient evidence in the case. Saibaba was released two days later, after the Supreme Court failed to intervene at the request of the prosecution.
“Dr. G.N. Saibaba’s release ends a nearly decade-old injustice,” said Freedom Now’s Legal Officer Adam Lhedmat. “His imprisonment was a blatant example of the Indian government stifling freedom of expression through the flagrant abuse of its anti-terrorism laws. We are grateful that Dr. Saibaba survived this ordeal despite prison authorities consistently neglecting his serious health conditions and this endangering his life. We call on the Indian government to provide him with health care and ensure he receives reparations for his wrongful detention, which has irreparably impeded his distinguished career.”
Saibaba is former professor of English Literature at Delhi University. At the time of his incarceration, he was the Deputy Secretary of the Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF), a federation of mass organizations in India, including organizations of workers, peasants, youth, students, women, and revolutionary cultural groups. In this position, Saibaba regularly spoke out about human rights abuses against Adivasi communities in the mineral rich belt of central India. He also organized communities against a major military offensive that the Indian government initiated in 2009 against the Adivasi that continues today.
Saibaba was arrested on May 9, 2014 during a police raid on his home and charged with terrorism-related crimes under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The government accused Saibaba of collaborating with banned insurgent groups.
The Supreme Court granted Saibaba bail in April 2016, citing his serious medical condition. He contracted polio as a child and was left 90 percent handicapped due to post-polio paralysis. His medical condition worsened in detention, having contracted COVID-19 twice while incarcerated.
The following year, in March 2017, Saibaba and his co-defendants were convicted of the charges against them. Their convictions occurred despite several irregularities in the trial, including key witnesses recanting their testimonies. Saibaba was taken back into custody despite several appeals for release on humanitarian grounds. In 2022, a High Court acquitted Saibaba and ordered him released, however the Supreme Court overruled this order and reversed the acquittal.
In May 2021, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, responding to a petition filed by Freedom Now and the international law firm Dechert LLP, found that India violated international law by imprisoning Saibaba.