On the eve of Human Rights Day, celebrated annually on December 10, international human rights organisations issued a letter in support of fact checker and Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair condemning the criminal case lodged against him by Ghaziabad police over his social media post in which he had shared a communally provocative speech given by controversial right-wing religious leader Yati Narsinghanand.
Signed by organisations like Reporters Without Borders (RSF), International Press Institute (IPI), International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Amnesty International, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Index on Censorship, PEN International, Digital Rights Foundation, Human Rights Watch, Committee to Protect Journalists and IFEX, the letter stated that Mr. Zubair has long been targeted by Indian authorities for his fact-checking, journalism and use of social media.
“In June 2022, he was arrested by the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh state police for a tweet related to comments made by a BJP spokesperson on national TV and another satirical tweet posted in 2018. Zubair was charged with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc. and deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs,” the letter reads.
It further added that whenever Mr. Zubair was granted bail in one case, another FIR would be lodged against him. Ultimately, six cases were lodged against Zubair, ensnaring him in a 24-day cycle of arrest, bail and re-arrest. The following month, the Supreme Court granted Mr. Zubair bail and ordered his release. As a result of Mr. Zubair’s journalism and commitment to media freedom, he won the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression awards in 2023.
The letter quoted an article of an online English media organisation, which reported that 13,000 people were charged with sedition between 2010 and 2021 under the erstwhile Indian Penal Code (IPC), including journalists, protesters and social media users.
It also added that the recent FIR registered against Mr. Zubair cites seven different legal provisions, including Section 66 of the Information Technology Act and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which is the updated and modernised version of the sedition clause. The Alt News co-founder filed a petition seeking interim bail and quashing of the FIR. On the first day of the hearing on December 3, the Allahabad High Court under which the matter was listed, recused themselves with a future hearing planned.
The human rights organisations further demanded withdrawal of the FIR against Mr. Zubair and demanded the Indian government to protect freedom of expression.
Published – December 10, 2024 03:20 am IST
