India: Alarm over mass raids targeting independent journalists and writers
Update - 17 May 2024:
PEN International welcomes reports that Prabir Purkayastha has been released on bail hours after the Supreme Court declared his arrest ‘invalid’. However, he should never have been detained, and he remains subject to strict bail conditions while the case against him under the deeply draconian UAPA remains active.
Update - 15 May 2024:
PEN International welcomes the news that the Supreme Court found the arrest of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha to be invalid and has ordered his release. We urge the Indian authorities to facilitate the Supreme Court’s order immediately.
5 October 2023: PEN International is alarmed by reports that journalists and writers have been targeted with mass raids as part of a wider investigation into NewsClick, an independent news outlet. The raids take place at a time when the right to freedom of expression is increasingly threatened across the country. We call on the Indian authorities to cease its use of anti-terrorism legislation and other forms of legal harassment against journalists and writers and to end its crackdown on independent media.
On 3 October 2023, Delhi Police raided 30 separate locations targeting journalists and writers who contributed to NewsClick. According to media reports, 46 NewsClick journalists, staff and contributors were questioned by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell, a unit specialising in counter-terrorism and matters concerning organised crime. During the raids, electronic devices were seized, and many were taken into police custody for questioning for several hours.
The news outlet’s founder and editor-in-chief, Prabir Purkayastha, and its head of human resources were formally arrested under India’s draconian anti-terrorism law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), which is routinely used to target those who peacefully exercise their right to freedom of expression.
‘Critical reporting of the government should not be treated as a security threat. The completely disproportionate use of police raids and anti-terror legislation against journalists and writers sends a chilling signal to independent media across the country.
At a time when democracy is in decline in countries around the world, this attack on free press, a pillar of any democracy, is deeply troubling’, said Ma Thida, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee.
Among those targeted are dozens of journalists, including Aunindyo Chakravarty, writers Githa Hariharan and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, and historian Sohail Hashmi. The Delhi Police also searched the home of writer and activist Teesta Setalvad. In July 2023, Setalvad was released on regular bail in relation to a separate case that was lodged against her in connection to her efforts to seek government accountability for the 2002 Gujarat Riots.
The raids were conducted as part of a wider investigation into NewsClick, which was first filed in a First Incident Report (FIR) on 17 August 2023. The investigation into the news organisation, which has been critical of the Indian government, is thought to be in connection to alleged funding it has received from an individual purported to be connected with the Chinese Communist Party, according to media reports.
A public statement issued by Newslick staff rejects all charges, noting that it has not published “any news or information at the behest of any Chinese entity or authority, directly or indirectly”, and that “Newsclick does not propagate Chinese propaganda on its website”. It asserts that due process was not followed during the raids, which includes the provision of hash values of any seized digital devices – a necessary means to mitigate the risk of evidence tampering, which has occurred in previous cases involving critics of the government.
The raids against NewsClick take place at a time when independent media has been increasingly targeted through various forms of legal harassment as part of wider efforts to crack down on peaceful dissent and any reporting critical of the Indian government. Recent examples include the legal harassment of writers Aakar Patel and Rana Ayyub in 2022, and raids carried out against independent news outlet, The Kashmir Walla, allegedly over an opinion article published in 2011. In 2023, India slipped down to 161 out of 180 countries featured in the Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, making it the country’s lowest ranking since the Index was first established in 2002.
For further information please contact Ross Holder, Head of the Asia/ Pacific Region at PEN International, email: ross.holder@pen-international.org