Times of India: Kochi: Thursday,
23 July 2020.
RTI
activists are aghast at the arrest of Dominic Simon, who had been effectively
utilizing provisions of the Right to Information Act to bring relief to
hundreds of non-resident Keralites, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic by
educating them on rights with regard to repatriation flights.
Simon is
being held in Al Hair prison in Riyadh after his arrest on July 8 but not even
his family knows the reasons why he was picked up.
Petitions
have been forwarded to Union ministry of external affairs and embassy of India
in Riyadh, seeking information on Simon.
He is
believed to have been arrested based on a false complaint by Indian embassy for
making social media posts critical of the mission. His mother moved the high
court on Wednesday.
In
Kerala, Simon who hails from Pala, was an active member of Vivaravakashikal, a
group of RTI enthusiasts and was always vocal for the rights of NRIs, which won
him an award by Pravasi Legal Cell, an organization that aids expats, says
Mahesh Vijayan, an RTI activist.
“Dominic
has not received any legal help,” said Vijayan.
In May
this year, Simon had filed an RTI query with the Indian embassy regarding
threatening calls. “Simon was critical of a section of embassy officials who
took money for repatriating people out of turn using the Vande Bharat Mission
flights and this seems to have angered them,” said Vijayan.
Simon’s
wife had filed a complaint through the PG portal. A reply on July 15 by
Shyamsunder, an attache in Indian embassy, Riyadh, said Simon had posted ‘vitriolic
remarks against the government on social media’ and ‘accused corruption in
Vande Bharat Mission’.
“Misusing
social media for mobilization of people is against Saudi law...In view of his
outbursts on social media, it seems that the Saudi authorities have taken suo
moto cognizance of his activities and have detained him,” the reply said.
.JPG)
.JPG)
