India court orders release of 14-year hunger striker

NEW DELHI, Aug 19 (AFP):- An Indian court Tuesday ordered the release of a woman who has staged a 14-year-long hunger strike to protest human rights abuses in the country's remote northeast, her lawyer said.

Irom Sharmila, known as the Iron Lady of Manipur for her unwavering and non-violent protest, has spent years in judicial custody over her fast, intended to draw attention to abuses allegedly committed by the military.

"The court has set her free," lawyer Mani Khaidem said of Sharmila, who was arrested on charges of trying to commit suicide shortly after beginning her protest.

"The court said that it is just an allegation that she wants to commit suicide, hence she cannot be kept under arrest and should be released immediately," Singh told AFP from Imphal, capital of Manipur state.

Sharmila began her fast in November 2000 after witnessing the killing of 10 people by the army at a bus stop near her home in northeastern Manipur, which is subject to the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

Sharmila was arrested a few days later and was then sent to a prison hospital, where she has been force-fed via a nasal drip several times a day.

Her brother Irom Singhajit welcomed the court's decision, but said he feared she would be rearrested once released because she would never abandon her protest.