Green adventure-seeker Andy Pag used to wake up in the cozy confines of the vegetable oil powered bus that he has been attempting to drive around the world. Now the eco-activist, who is being held in India under ‘suspicion of terrorism’ charges because he carried an unlicensed satellite telephone, wakes up every morning on the cold stone floor of Ajmer prison.
Pag, whose full name is Andrea Pagnacco, was arrested in Pushkar in January for carrying a satellite telephone without the proper permission and documentation.
While no official charges have been filed, the 36-year-old has been deemed a threat to national security and as such, denied bail. He is still in prison awaiting trial.
Infuriatingly, Pag is being held on the grounds that he failed to procure a permit to carry a satellite telephone, however his lawyer has since discovered there appears to be no government department in all of India that actually issues permits to use satellite phones in the country.
Pag’s sister Francesca Pagnacco told the Telegraph that the family was concerned because if the case went to trial, Mr Pag could be held in a remand center for up to a year.
“He is not a terrorist,” said Miss Pagnacco. “He wanted to raise awareness about biofuels and just had no idea about the permits required for the sat phone. I think they are concerned because some of the Mumbai bombers used the same phone.”
Pag designed his Bio Truck Expedition project to raise awareness about global warming. His goal was to show the world that he could emit less than two tons of carbon while driving around the world by doing it in a 20-year-old school bus that he had rigged out to run off bio-diesel and energy generated from solar panels. He had already covered over 9,000 miles, and two continents before being imprisoned in India.
This isn’t Pag’s first attempt at going on a green road trip in order to raise awareness about environmental issues. Two years ago, he drove a chocolate powered truck through the African desert to Timbuktu.
Prag’s eco adventure has taken a frightening turn. He has a issued digital plea to the world for help:
I’m launching this email petition and hoping that everyone that’s been so supportive already, will help by sending the email below to the Indian High Commissioners in London and in Rome, as well as to the only email address I could find for the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Please add your name and home town at the bottom of the email and of course you can edit the contents as you see fit. Tell your friends about it (facebook it, tweet it, talk about it at work…) and invite them to send emails too. Hopefully if enough people send it, it will have an impact.
This is my last resort and I hope it will motivate the officer to complete his investigation. There is no legal time limit. It’s already been 6 weeks, and until they do I am trapped in India.
Thanks for your help.
Andy
[Via: Telegraph, Explorer'sWeb]
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