Germany on Wednesday expressed concern over the detention of Muslim journalist Mohammed Zubair, saying that the significance of press freedom “additionally applies to India.”
“Free reporting is helpful to any society and restrictions are a trigger for concern,” German international ministry spokesman Christian Wagner stated throughout a press convention.
“Journalists shouldn’t be persecuted and imprisoned for what they are saying and write,” Wagner stated, including that the German embassy in India was “monitoring this very intently.”
He added that Germany would work with its EU companions on the bottom, incorporating the problem of their ongoing dialogue with India.
“Freedom of expression and freedom of the press are a spotlight of these discussions with India,” Wagner stated.
Who’s Mohammed Zubair?
Zubair was arrested in India’s capital metropolis of New Delhi for a 2018 tweet that allegedly harm spiritual sentiments. He is accused of violating the nation’s regulation on spiritual concord.
Zubair is a vocal critic of Narendra Modi’s conservative authorities
The Muslim journalist is the co-founder of fact-checking web site Alt Information and has been a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s authorities.
Zubair additionally routinely calls out hate speech by Hindu fringe teams on the web and writes concerning the marginalization of India’s Muslim minority.
India says criticism is ‘unhelpful’
Zubair was arrested days after bringing worldwide consideration to controversial remarks made by a ruling celebration official towards Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Critics have stated that his arrest is part of a bigger crackdown on free speech in India below Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Indian authorities has denied this. On Thursday, Delhi swiftly reacted to the German ministry spokesman’s feedback, saying Zubair’s case was a home problem.
“Let me emphasize that there’s a judicial course of underway on this case,” Arindam Bagchi of India’s international ministry stated, including that he didn’t suppose it could be acceptable for him “or anybody else” to touch upon the matter.
“The independence of our judiciary is properly acknowledged and uninformed feedback are unhelpful and must be averted,” he added.