Global free speech watchdog PEN International has expressed deep concern at “ongoing efforts to imprison” rights defender Teesta Setalvad after her plea for regular bail was rejected, while deploring the “hostile environment” for free expression and “peaceful criticism of the Indian government” in the country.

“The organisation calls on the Indian authorities to immediately drop all charges against Setalvad, and to end their persecution of writers, journalists, and activists for their peaceful expression,” PEN International said in a statement on Friday.

The Mumbai-based activist, accused of forging evidence against the then Gujarat government in connection with the 2002 riots, was denied bail by Gujarat High Court last week. She remains out of prison, with the Supreme Court having extended her interim bail until further orders. The next hearing in the top court is scheduled for July 19.

“The ongoing case against writer and activist Teesta Setalvad for her work in support of human rights is a chilling example of the shrinking space for dissenting voices within the world’s largest democracy,” Ma Thida, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee, saidin the statement.

“We call for all charges against her to be dropped immediately so that she can continue her vital work in support of others.”

Setalvad, a trenchant critic of Narendra Modi and his government’s role during the 2002 Gujarat riots, was honoured with an empty chair representing her at the 55th International Writers for Peace Committee Meeting in Bled, Slovenia, in May. Setalvad had had to surrender her passport as a bail condition after her arrest last year.

PEN added in the statement: “Teesta Setalvad was initially detained on 25 June 2022 by anti-terrorpolice on allegations of criminal conspiracy and forging evidence as partof her efforts to seek government accountability for the 2002 Gujarat riots, a period of inter-communal violence that led to the deaths of hundreds of Indian citizens.”

“Setalvad has alleged that she was assaulted by two members of the anti-terror police when she requested permission to speak with her lawyer.

“The targeting of Teesta Setalvad has drawn swift international condemnation, including from Amnesty International India and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, who had called for her release at the time of her arrest.

“The ongoing case against Teesta Setalvad takes place within an increasingly hostile environment for free expression in India, where writers, journalists and human rights activists are frequently targeted for their peaceful criticism of the Indian government.”