ITANAGAR, 19 May: The Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), Itanagar, in a press conference on Friday termed the Arunachal Pradesh Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (APUAPA) “draconian and arbitrary in nature.”
Human rights lawyer and anti-dam activist Ebo Mili said that a person detained under the APUAPA “cannot hire a lawyer to represent them,” and cited cases in which “people booked under the UAPA throughout the country are still not released,” and said that “there are no proper trials under this Act.”
Stating that the Act is “used as a tool for making political prisoners,” Mili said that, “under the APUAPA, there is no accountability and one cannot have a magisterial hearing but can constitute an advisory board wherein nobody is allowed – neither lawyers nor the public.”
“When we already have good laws, we don’t need APUAPA. It isn’t necessary,” he said, and urged student bodies to speak out against the Act.
