GUWAHATI: Rights activist Yogendra Yadav on Sunday alleged that Assam’s arrested activist-turned-politician Akhil Gogoi is facing a political trial and not a criminal trial.
“It is sad that people who should be behind the bar are seated on the chair (of power) and those who should be free are languishing in jail. It (Akhil Gogoi’s) is not a criminal trial but a political trial. This was done to prevent him from addressing people during the election,” Yadav told journalists after meeting ailing Gogoi at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital in Guwahati.
Samajwadi Party leader, Sunilam, who was with Yadav, conveyed Gogoi’s message to the people to “defeat the BJP”. He said the Congress-led grand alliance should have listened to “people’s voice” by not fielding candidates against Raijor Dal, of which Gogoi is the president, and its ally Assam Jatiya Parishad.
Gogoi was arrested by the police in December 2019 when the protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act turned violent. Later, he was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a case pertaining to his alleged links with the CPI (Maoist).
The NIA had charged him with sedition, intention to cause riot against national integration, punishment for criminal conspiracy and unlawful association under the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. He is lodged at the Central Jail in Guwahati.