A day after Delhi Police arrested fact-checking website Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, Amnesty India said on Tuesday said that harassment and arbitrary arrests of human rights defenders for tirelessly seeking truth and justice have become alarmingly commonplace in the country. The organisation has also demanded immediate and unconditional release of Zubair.
"Indian authorities are targeting Zubair for his crucial work to combat the rise in fake news and disinformation and call out discrimination against minorities," the chair of board for Amnesty International India Aakar Patel said, adding that the journalist's arrest shows the danger facing human rights defenders in India has reached a crisis point, news agency PTI reported.
According to report, Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on Monday night for allegedly hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity on Twitter.
"The fact that he was not provided a copy of the First Information Report (FIR) and was detained incommunicado during the initial hours following his arrest shows just how brazen the Indian authorities have become. Harassment, intimidation, unlawful and arbitrary arrests, and imprisonment of human rights defenders for tirelessly seeking truth and justice has become alarmingly commonplace in India," Patel said in a statement.
He also demanded Delhi Police to end its "relentless harassment" of journalists, human rights defenders and activists and pointed out that Alt News co-founder's arrest is a clear violation of the right to freedom of expression, abuse of power by the authorities.
"This sends a message that dissent is not tolerated in the country," he added.
Another Co-Founder of Alt News Pratik Sinha alleged that Delhi Police did not give any notice to Zubair prior to his arrest which is mandatory in the sections of IPC under which he has been booked.
According to Delhi Police, Zubair was taken into custody in connection with one of his recent tweets that had a questionable image with the purpose of deliberately insulting the God of a particular religion.
(With inputs from PTI.)