Journalists’ bodies condemn Alt News co-founder’s arrest
Describe arrest as ‘extremely disturbing’, demand his immediate release
NEW DELHI: A day after the arrest of fact-checker Mohammed Zubair, the Editors Guild of India and Press Club of India has condemned the arrest of Zubair by calling the move as “extremely disturbing”. The institutions representing journalists have also demanded immediate release of Zubair, who is also the co-founder of Alt News.
Pointing to commitments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the G7 meeting in Germany to ensure a resilient democracy by protecting online and offline content, the Editors Guild of India has demanded for the release of Zubair, who was arrested by Delhi Police on Monday.
Condemning the arrest, the Press Club of India said, “It is ironic that Muhammad Zubair's arrest by the Delhi Police came on a day when India joined G7 and four other countries to protect free speech ‘online and offline.' Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the G7 meet in Germany where the signatories also committed to protect freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief and promoting inter-faith dialogue.”
“Freedom of Expression is an essential ingredient of democracy. It is disturbing that Delhi Police arrested AltNews co-founder around the same time when PM Modi was associating himself with the noble declaration along with world leaders. Are the Union Home Ministry and Delhi Police not on the same page with the Prime Minister on the commitment to freedom of expression?”, the PCI askd.
“The action by the Delhi Police in hastily arresting Zubair showed the blatant violation of the country's commitment on the global platform given by none other than the Prime Minister himself,” the PCI stated in a statement.