Tamil movie directors granted conditional bail

Ramanathapuram (Tamil Nadu), Oct 29 (IANS) Tamil film directors Seeman and Ameer, arrested for allegedly making seditious speeches in support of Sri Lankan Tamils, were granted conditional bail by a court here Wednesday.

Sessions Judge N. Mayandi ordered that they should report at a magistrate's court in the temple city of Madurai every day, officials said.

The police department's 'Q' Branch that deals with extremist violence arrested the duo Oct 24 in state capital Chennai, 500 km north of here, on sedition charges. They were remanded to judicial custody by a court here the next day.

They had allegedly made inflammatory and seditious speeches in Rameshwaram Oct 19 during a demonstration to express solidarity with the suffering Tamil minority in Sri Lanka.

The prosecuting lawyers did not raise any objections when the directors' counsel moved their bail petitions.

Judge Mayandi said in his order that the directors should surrender their passports to the police.

The directors were likely to be released Thursday, sources in the Madurai central prison said on the telephone.

Meanwhile, actor-turned-politician Sarath Kumar told reporters after meeting the directors in prison that he had requested actors and actresses scheduled to take part in a day-long hunger-strike Nov 1 to keep their emotions under control during speeches.

'As the president of the South Indian Artistes' Association, I have sent circulars to member actors and actresses to donate liberally to the suffering Lankan Tamils and avoid inflammatory speeches on the occasion,' Kumar said.

He hoped the relief materials would be distributed to the suffering Tamils speedily by the Sri Lankan government under the auspices of the International Red Cross and United Nations.

Answering questions about demands of arrests of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol Thirumavalavan and director Bharti Raja for allegedly seditious speeches by various leaders including AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalitha, Kumar added that interpretation of the speeches was to be left to the police.