MUMBAI: The Mumbai Press Club condemns the arrest of journalist and co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News Mohammed Zubair by the Delhi Police on June 27 for a 2018 tweet. Zubair has been instrumental in exposing hate speech and toxic misinformation.

Zubair was arrested under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language, etc.) and 295A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Alt News co-founder Pratik Sinha alleged that Zubair was arrested in a case for which no notice was given by the police, which is mandatory under law for the sections under which he has been held.

The Mumbai Press Club demands that Zubair should be released immediately. We also request Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah’s immediate intervention in this matter.