New Delhi, 16 June 2021: The Indian Journalists Union condemns the filing of FIR against news website The Wire and three journalists --Rana Ayyub , columnist Washington Post, Saba Naqvi,freelance journalist, and Mohammed Zubair,Co-founder of Alt News by the UP government for sharing a video. The Union demanded immediate withdrawal of the case and that the authorities refrain from targeting journalists, which has become the rule in the largest State of the country.

The FIR was filed by an inspector at Loni Border police station, Ghaziabad district, accusing the website and the 3 journalists of ‘provoking communal sentiment’ by tweeting a video showing an elderly Muslim-man being beaten up by a group of men. The video say reports showed Abdul Samad being thrashed by miscreants, who cut off his beard and forced him to chant a Hindu slogan ‘Jai Shree Ram’ in Loni on June 5.

The FIR states the accused violated Sections 153 (provocation to cause a riot), 153A (promoting enmity between religious groups), 295A (insulting religious beliefs), 505 (public mischief), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. If found guilty, they face prison penalties of up to one year. In the case of 120B (criminal conspiracy), it has a possible sentence of up to two years.

In a statement, IJU President and former Member, Press Council of India, Geetartha Pathak and IJU Secretary General and International Federation of Journalists Vice President Sabina Inderjit said the journalists were merely highlighting the incident and there was no intention to provoke communal unrest. The Union is deeply concerned about the tendency of the UP police to harass journalists critical of the government and demands immediate withdrawal of the FIR against them. The UP government must allow journalists to function freely, even if they are critical of the BJP, it added.