Indian anti-corruption cartoonist Aseem Trivedi, aft6er being held on the charges of sedition has been granted bail. The cartoonist is expected to be released on September 12, 2012. The Bombay High Court had said that he would be released on bail of he paid Rs. 5,000.
But Trivedi had refused bail until the charges of sedition were dropped but the reports have said that he has agreed to go ahead with it. The cartoonist appeared in the court two days after his arrest.
Trivedi was remanded in custody up to Sept 24, 2012 and was arrested on cartoons alleged to have mocked India’s constitution. The bail was granted to Trivedi on September 11, 2012 after an application from the member of the public.
Many of the Indians see the arrest of the cartoonist as an attack on the freedom of speech. The cartoonist has been participating in the anti-corruption movement led by the India Against Corruption activist Anna Hazare. Trivedi was quoted saying, “I respect the judiciary [and] will execute the bail bond tomorrow”. Moreover the anti corruption activists threatened that they would begin a protest of the sedition charges on Trivedi were not dropped. In one of the series of cartoons the cartoonist had placed three wolves instead of the lions on the national emblem with their teeth dripping with blood with a message ‘long live corruption’.
