Mumbai, Sep 11 (ANI): India Against Corruption (IAC) member activist Arvind Kejriwal, who met jailed cartoonist Aseem Trivedi in prison, today said that he would begin a protest starting Saturday if all sedition-related charges levelled against Trivedi are not dropped.

Kejriwal described Trivedi as a patriot who has been fighting against corruption for the last one year.

"We met Aseem now. I appreciate the courage of this boy. He can never be a traitor. He fought for the Lokpal. Those who steal coal, they are true patriots, and those who fight against corruption, are traitors. The nation will not tolerate the attitude of this government," said Kejriwal.

"If all charges against Aseem Trivedi are not dropped by Friday, and he is not released from jail, then we will sit outside here from Saturday," he added.

Kejriwal had earlier on Monday said it was wrong to send Trivedi to judicial custody.

"This is not the case of sedition at all. I personally know Aseem since one year. Since he has been fighting against corruption with us, so police have been troubling him also over this," said Kejriwal.

'The cartoons that he has made could be debated, that they are in bad taste, or else, they shouldn't have been made like this, but we cannot call him a traitor for making those cartoons. He is a patriot, he was associated with us in the fight against India against Corruption," he added.

Trivedi, who was arrested by the Mumbai Police on Saturday for allegedly posting seditious and obscene content on his website which has now been blocked, has been sent to judicial custody till September 24. He was also charged under the IT Act and the 1971 National Emblem Act.

The cartoonist's supporters, however, allege that his arrest is politically motivated and that he is being punished for backing Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign.

The cartoons by Trivedi reportedly depicted Parliament as a commode and showed the national emblem with wolves instead of lions.

The police claimed that Trivedi had earlier exhibited similar cartoons at a rally organised by India Against Corruption (IAC) at the MMRDA grounds in Mumbai in December 2011. (ANI)