Germany's embassy in New Delhi is "monitoring very closely" the arrest of Alt News cofounder Muhammed Zubair and is also "in contact" with its "EU partners on the ground", a representative of the German foreign ministry has said.
In a video posted by Richard Walker, chief international editor of DW, the representative, when asked about Zubair, said Germany is "committed to freedom of expression and freedom of the press all over the world...and that also applies to India."
He added, "Free reporting is beneficial to any society and restrictions are cause for concern. Journalists should not be persecuted and imprisoned for that they say and write...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."
MINI THREAD
— Richard Walker (@rbsw) July 6, 2022
German foreign ministry on India's ongoing detention of journalist Mohammed Zubair
"India describes itself as the world’s largest democracy. So one can expect democratic values like freedom of expression and of the press to be given the necessary space there"
/1 pic.twitter.com/g26gSSKEO7
In the video, Walker, then asked the representative why Germany was not being more specific in its criticism of Zubair's arrest.
"Germany is often very precise in criticising countries where journalistic freedom is impaired and journalists are imprisoned," Walker said. "Why is it different here in India? Why are you not in a position, a week and a half after he was taken into custody, to criticise this in a really specific way?"
The representative replied, "I would not say that I was not precise in my criticism. Rather, I was very open to speaking on principle about the importance that we attach to freedom of expression and freedom of the press..."
Zubair was arrested on June 27 for allegedly hurting Hindu religious sentiments. The reason: a satirical post from four years ago that a now-deleted Twitter account called Hanuman Bhakt apparently found offensive and flagged to the Delhi police on June 19.
The Delhi police later added charges of criminal conspiracy, disappearance of evidence and violation of foreign funding rules to the case, and Zubair, who already had five FIRs against him, is now in 14-day judicial custody. The arrest has been widely condemned by press bodies.
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