Gender: Male

Perpetrator: India

Religion or Belief: Muslim – Unspecified/Other

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Date of Detainment: June/27/2022

Current Status: Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment

Reason for Persecution: Expression about Religion Religious Identity Reporting on Religious Freedom Conditions or Documenting Religious Freedom Violations

Nature of Charges: Hate Speech

Mohammed Zubair

Extra Bio Info:

Mohammed Zubair was detained for his expression about religion and in relation to his reporting on religious freedom conditions.

On June 27, 2022, Delhi police arrested Zubair, co-founder of the fact-checking website Alt News, after summoning him for questioning. Earlier in June 2022, authorities opened a criminal investigation into a Tweet Zubair made in 2018 perceived as insulting to a Hindu god. Zubair’s arrest followed his flagging of remarks made by the then-active Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson perceived as insulting to the Prophet Muhammad and Islam, which led to widespread protests across the country. Zubair was charged with "promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc." (Sec. 153A IPC) and “deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs” (Sec. 295A IPC).

On July 20, 2022, the Supreme Court granted Zubair interim bail in all six cases he was being prosecuted in.  He was released that same day.

Zubair has been targeted in other criminal cases in relation to his work as a journalist.

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