‘Uninformed Comments Unhelpful’: India Rebuts Germany’s Remarks on Mohammed Zubair’s Arrest

India on Thursday rejected Germany’s criticism of fact-checker Mohammed Zubair’s arrest, saying the independence of the country’s judiciary is well recognised and that “uninformed” comments are “unhelpful” and should be avoided.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi made the rebuttal a day after a German foreign ministry official said journalists should not be “persecuted and imprisoned” for what they say and write, pointing to police action against Zubair.

“In itself it’s a domestic issue. Let me emphasise that there is a judicial process underway in this case and I don’t think it would be appropriate for me, or anyone else, to comment on a case that is sub-judice,” Bagchi said, responding to a question at a media briefing. “I think the independence of our judiciary is well recognised and uninformed comments are unhelpful and should be avoided.”

Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News, was arrested in Delhi on June 27 over a 2018 tweet. The police later added more charges against him,  including violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.

The German official said free reporting is beneficial to any society and restrictions are a cause for concern.

“Journalists should not be persecuted and imprisoned for what they say and write. We are indeed aware of this specific case and our embassy in New Delhi is monitoring it very closely,” the German foreign ministry spokesperson said.

He said the European Union has a human rights dialogue with India and the freedom of expression and freedom of the press are a focus of those discussions.

“India describes itself as the world’s largest democracy. So one can expect democratic values like freedom of expression and freedom of the press to be given the necessary space there,” the German spokesperson said.

The video of the German foreign ministry spokesperson’s comments was shared on Twitter by Richard Walker, chief international editor at Deutsche Welle.

(With PTI inputs)

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