Arundhati Roy, the celebrated Indian novelist, staunchly opposes a plan to construct what would be the country's largest hydroelectric dam. Like any novelist would do, she has effectively used her stock in trade -- words -- to campaign against the dam. Too effectively, it turns out. On Wednesday, the Indian Supreme Court found Roy guilty of criminal contempt after she suggested the justices were trying to "silence criticism" of the project. The author of The God of Small Things drew a one-day prison sentence and a $42 fine. If Roy refuses to pay the fine, she's looking at three months in the slammer.
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Arundhati Roy, the celebrated Indian novelist, staunchly opposes a plan to construct what would be the country's largest hydroelectric dam. Like any novelist would do, she has effectively used her stock in trade -- words -- to campaign against the dam. Too effectively, it turns out. On Wednesday, the Indian Supreme Court found Roy guilty of criminal contempt after she suggested the justices were trying to "silence criticism" of the project. The author of The God of Small Things drew a one-day prison sentence and a $42 fine. If Roy refuses to pay the fine, she's looking at three months in the slammer.
