An anonymous Twitter handle whose only post led to the arrest of Mohammed Zubair, a co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News, does not exist on the social media platform anymore.
The handle @balajikijaiin, which went by the name of Hanuman Bhakt and had a profile image of Hindu deity Hanuman, objected to a tweet posted by Zubair in 2018, which showed an image of a hotel signboard repainted from “Honeymoon Hotel” to “Hanuman Hotel”.
Responding to this post on June 19, the user had written that it was an insult to Hanuman.
Notably, this was the only tweet posted by the anonymous account, which had only three followers until Monday evening when Zubair was arrested by a cyber unit of the Delhi Police on charges of hurting religious sentiments.
The first information report was registered against the journalist by the Delhi Police on June 20.
On Wednesday morning, a message said, “This account doesn’t exist.”
At a hearing in a Delhi court on Tuesday, Senior Advocate Vrinda Grover, representing Zubair, had raised questions about the legitimacy of the Twitter account, Live Law reported.
“We are in June 2022,” Grover said. “If an anonymous Twitter handle chose to create mischief in the country, those reasons should be investigated I think. Abuse of legal process is writ large over here.”
To this, the public prosecutor argued that the Twitter user was a “mere informer” and the complaint against Zubair cannot be called an anonymous one.
“He is not an anonymous complainant,” the public prosecutor contended. “His details are here. Without details, no one can get a Twitter account.”
Following the arguments, the court sent Zubair to police custody for four days.
Concern pours in
Journalists anywhere in the world should not be jailed for what they write, tweet or say, a spokesperson for United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday while commenting on the arrest Zubair.
“...In any place around the world, it is very important that people be allowed to express themselves freely, journalists be allowed to express themselves freely and without the threat of any harassment,” the spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said in response to questions during a media briefing.
“The arrest of journalist Mohammad Zubair marks another low for press freedom in India, where the government has created a hostile and unsafe environment for members of the press reporting on sectarian issues,” Steven Butler, the South Asia program coordinator for United States-based non-profit organisation Committee to Protect Journalists, said.
Aakar Patel, the chair of board for Amnesty International India, said that authorities are targeting Zubair for his “crucial work” in combatting disinformation and calling out discrimination against minorities.
“The arrest of Mohammed Zubair shows the danger facing human rights defenders in India has reached a crisis point,” he said.
Patel added that the Alt News co-founder’s arrest is “is a clear violation of the right to freedom of expression, abuse of power by the authorities and sends a message that dissent is not tolerated in the country”.
