Two more journalists arrested for ‘defaming’ Adityanath; Editors Guild terms arrests arbitrary

“The police action is high-handed and arbitrary, and amounts to an authoritarian misuse of laws. The Guild sees it as an effort to intimidate the press and stifle freedom of expression,” it said in a statement.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Nation Live channel head Ishika Singh and editor Anuj Shukla were on June 9 remanded to a 14-day judicial custody for allegedly broadcasting defamatory content against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

They were arrested on June 8. Prashant Kanojia, a freelance journalist, was also arrested for uploading a related video . The Editors Guild of India has condemned the action.

“The police action is high-handed and arbitrary, and amounts to an authoritarian misuse of laws. The Guild sees it as an effort to intimidate the press and stifle freedom of expression,” it said in a statement.

The FIR is based on the journalist tweeting the video of a woman claiming a ‘relationship’ with the CM. The FIR is based on the journalist tweeting the video of a woman claiming a “relationship” with the Chief Minister. The channel aired the video. “Whatever the accuracy of the woman’s claims, to register a case of criminal defamation against the journalists for sharing it on the social media and airing it on a television channel is a brazen misuse of law,” the Guild said.

It pointed out that the Uttar Pradesh police filed the case  suo motu.  “This is a condemnable misuse of law and state power.” 

The Guild reiterated its demand that defamation be decriminalised. The other media organisations have also condemned the arrests.

The Editors Guild of India has issued a statement pic.twitter.com/fdczdNDwyz

— Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) June 9, 2019

 

Mr. Kanojia was picked up from his residence in East Delhi on June 8 by plainclothesmen and taken to Lucknow. 

According to his wife, the sole witness to his arrest, the police whisked him away without giving her an opportunity to talk to him.

“The action taken by the Uttar Pradesh police against these three journalists is a clear case of administrative overreach, and excessive in proportion by way of application of law,” said a statement issued by the Indian Women’s Press Corps, the Press Club of India, the South Asian Women in the Media (SAWM, India) and the Press Association. 

The Network of women in Media said the arrested demonstrated the lack of political will to create a climate for free expression and tolerance of dissenting views. “Equating criticism of the Chief Minister with disturbing law and order is contrary to freedom of expression in a democracy,” it said.

(With PTI inputs)