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Independent Indian filmmaker Ajay TG has been released from prison following a wave of protests.

Our affiliate Unites Professionals in India has been running a high profile campaign in his support on their website (unitespro.org).

The filmmaker was detained by the Chhattisgarth police on 5 May under special security legislation after he wrote to a banned Maoist group to demand back his camera

He was released on 6 August after the police failed to file charges - but Ajay is still subject to bail, to reporting regularly to a police station and is unable to travel abroad without the court’s permission.

The Maoists seized the camera in 2004 when Ajay was taking photographs during an election boycotted by the Maoists.

He was accused of being a police spy but that didn’t help him much when the police later found his letter demanding back his camera and arrested him.

“It is not possible to silence the voice of dissent, the expressions of our conscience or even the reporting of facts by intimidation, imprisonment and the politics of branding,” said the Release of Ajay TG campaign.

“We feel that legislation like the Chhattisgarth State Special Security Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act - which are used to make such arrests - undermine not just democracy but also the flourishing of all artistic creativity.

“Our campaign will continue until the case against Ajay TG is formally closed and that Ajay TG's films will continue to be screened all across the country.”

Filmmakers, artists and activists distributed hundreds of “Release Ajay TG” pamphlets at the opening ceremony of the 10th Osian's Cinefan - Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema - in New Delhi last month.