“Bengaluru Court Hands 10-Year Jail Term for Pro-ISIS Tweets Under UAPA”
In a recent legal development, a Bengaluru court handed down a ten-year prison sentence to Mehdi Masroor Biswas under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for actively promoting the ideologies of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on the social media platform Twitter. The special court, presided over by Additional Sessions Judge Gangadhara CM, found Biswas guilty of operating a Twitter handle (@shamiwitness) that disseminated content supporting and glorifying ISIS, ultimately leading to his conviction on offenses under the UAPA.
Mehdi Masroor Biswas, a B. Tech graduate, was arrested in December 2014 after Bengaluru police received information identifying him as the mastermind behind the aforementioned Twitter handle. The court considered evidence that Biswas had not only circulated news from ISIS accounts but had also actively recruited individuals to join the terrorist organization, advocating for the commission of terrorist acts.
The judgment emphasized the gravity of the accused’s actions, noting that his Twitter account, which had amassed 18,000 followers, served as a virtual meeting place for those sympathetic to his cause. The court stated that Biswas utilized his online platform to propagate tweets supporting terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Jabhat Al-Nusra, with the intent to encourage support and further their activities.
Despite arguments questioning the classification of ISIS as a terrorist organization at the time of Biswas’ arrest, the court referenced a Karnataka High Court ruling that upheld the United Nations’ 2007 ban on ISIS, solidifying its status as a terrorist organization.
The court also found Biswas guilty of promoting enmity among different religions through his tweets, citing instances where he linked the killings of Muslims in Assam to Hindu extremist groups, naming RSS and Shri Narendra Modi in his posts. The judgment held that Biswas’ tweets fulfilled the criteria of offenses under sections 153A, 505(1)(b), 505(1)(c), and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code.
While the court acknowledged that Biswas had not committed overt acts with the intention to wage war against the Government of India, he was convicted of various offenses under the UAPA and the IPC. Notably, the court refrained from pronouncing judgment on the sedition charge against Biswas, citing a Supreme Court order to keep the provision in abeyance.
Mehdi Masroor Biswas was sentenced to ten years of simple imprisonment and fined ₹50,000 for his offenses under the UAPA, with concurrent sentences of three years for various offenses under the IPC. The court commended Investigating Officer Thammaiah MK for his diligence in collecting evidence and bringing the accused to justice.
