Activist Kokila Annamalai to be charged with failing to comply with POFMA order

CNA understands that she is the second person to be charged under POFMA, after Jay Ish’haq Rajoo, who was charged with the more serious crime of communicating false statements of fact under POFMA.

On Oct 2 and 3, 2024, Annamalai made posts on her Facebook and X accounts. The authorities said then the posts falsely stated that “the government schedules and stays executions arbitrarily without regard for due legal process”, and that “the state does not bear the legal burden of providing a drug trafficking charge against the accused person”.

On Oct 5, 2024, a POFMA direction was issued for her to carry correction notices on her social media posts. It is alleged that she did not comply with the correction.

Annamalai will be charged with one count of failing to comply with the POFMA direction, without reasonable excuse.