In India, a major opposition figure arrested ahead of national elections. The head of the Delhi region, Arvind Kejriwal, was arrested on Thursday March 21 as part of a corruption investigation which, according to his supporters, aims to exclude him from the next election on April 19.
He will be defended on Friday by lawyers from his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) before the Supreme Court, which said it would hear a plea challenging the legality of the arrest.
Delhi state Education Minister Atishi Marlena Singh announced the arrest and said Arvind Kejriwal remained the state's chief minister.
“We have been clear from the beginning: if necessary, Arvind Kejriwal will lead the government from prison,” she said. She called the arrest a "political conspiracy" orchestrated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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Arvind Kejriwal, one of the main leaders of the opposition alliance which will face Narendra Modi in the next elections, was arrested after several hours of interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate, the main Indian agency responsible for the fight against financial crimes.
The government of Arvind Kejriwal, which itself campaigns against corruption, has been accused of corruption in the awarding of private liquor licenses and, as part of an investigation into the matter, two of its top allies have already been imprisoned.
Political trial?
The Arvind Kejriwal government introduced a controversial policy to liberalize the sale of alcohol in Delhi in 2021, inviting private players to open shops and ending the state monopoly.
This liberalization policy was halted in 2022 and the subsequent investigation into alleged corruption in licensing resulted in the imprisonment of two senior members of Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
He is among key opposition leaders facing criminal investigations that supporters say are politically motivated.
Rahul Gandhi, a member of the main opposition Congress Party and scion of a dynasty that dominated Indian politics for decades, was convicted of defamation last year following a lawsuit filed by a member of Narendra Modi's party.
He was sentenced to two years in prison, but the verdict was suspended on appeal.
The Congress party called a press conference on Thursday to announce that following the authorities' tax investigation, which led to the freezing of its bank accounts in mid-February, it did not have the funds necessary to organize his campaign for the next general elections.
The AAP, the Congress party and several other parties have formed an opposition coalition for the polls which will take place between April and June.
Also read: Emmanuel Macron's visit to India: why France is silent on human rights
With AFP
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