After the PM was named among the 37 “predators of press freedom” by the global body Reporters Without Borders (RSF), The Washington Post’s Press Freedom Partnership’s launched the 10 most urgent list for the month of July 2021, in which 4 of the journalists are Indian nationals.
The Press Freedom Partnership happens to be a public service initiative from The Washington Post to promote press freedom and raise awareness of the rights of journalists worldwide who are in pursuit of the truth.
The July 2021 list of 10 most pressing cases of press freedom abuses around the world, as identified by the One Free Press Coalition, focused on the journalists who may have contracted covid-19 due to detention conditions or on those journalists “who have been exposed to the whims of authorities in some countries who use the pandemic as a reason to crack down on media.”
Rana Ayyub, Saba Naqvi, and Mohammed Zubair from India ranked 1 on the list together. The three have been harshly targeted on social media and otherwise. An FIR was registered against the three for posting about the assault of a 62-year-old Muslim man by goons.
“Last year, police filed a criminal investigation against an editor at independent news website The Wire for allegedly “spreading discord” related to the covid-19 lockdown,” as stated on the list.
It further says, “Now authorities have launched a criminal investigation against The Wire and journalists Rana Ayyub, who is also a Washington Post Global Opinions contributing writer, Saba Naqvi and Mohammed Zubair that alleges they shared an unverified video that could cause social unrest.”
On 8th rank is Siddique Kappan, the journalist from Kerala, who had just made it to Hathras to cover the alleged rape case of a Dalit girl by upper-caste men, was arrested on fabricated charges. He had remained in jail since, where he also contracted the Covid-19 virus, after which he fell seriously ill.
It was after a number of efforts by his wife and lawyer, including writing to the Chief Justice, that he was granted permission to be treated at a better healthcare facility. His bail plea has been rejected time and again. And his mother passed away while he was still in jail.
“Indian journalist behind bars reportedly collapsed earlier this year after reportedly contracting covid-19. While a court dropped one of the non-bailable charges against him in June, authorities in Uttar Pradesh continue to pursue and investigate additional retaliatory charges against him,” says the list.
Azimjon Askarov (Kyrgyzstan), José Antônio Arantes (Brazil), Gamal al-Gamal (Egypt), Rozina Islam (Bangladesh), Nurgeldi Halykov (Turkmenistan), Andrzej Poczobut (Belarus), Shahram Safari (Iran), and Oratile Dikologang (Botswana) were the others in the 10 most urgent list.
Author Profile
Latest entries
