New Delhi: The Press Club of India (PCI) has expressed outrage at the arrest of freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma under the Official Secrets Act, pointing to the “dubious record” of the Delhi Police special cell in selectively incriminating criminals. journalists.
On Friday, the Delhi police special cell announced that it had arrested Sharma for being part of a “spy ring” that included two foreign nationals. He was reportedly found to be in possession of classified defense documents and was allegedly spying for China.
“We are astonished to learn of the arrest of Mr. Rajeev Sharma, a well-known longtime freelance journalist and member of the PCI. This is due to the dubious track record of the Special Branch. More generally, too, the record of the Delhi Police is barely brilliant, ”said the statement released by PCI on Saturday.
The association stated that “based on the police statement to the media, we have no hesitation in stating that policing is overbearing and may be inspired by obscure or questionable considerations.”
He cited two cases of journalists who were arrested for having worked for foreign security agencies, but in both examples, the police were found to have made a false case.
A senior journalist with Kashmir TimesIftikhar Gilani, was arrested in 2002 on charges of tracking army movements in Kashmir. “He spent seven months in the Tihar prison, where he was attacked by other prisoners at the provocation of the authorities. Finally, it was Army intelligence that denied the false police case and Mr. Gilani had to be released. In that case, the poor role of the judiciary also stood out ”.
After the attack on an Israeli diplomat, a journalist writing for IRNA was arrested. “Her family was also forced to run from pillar to post, it was all in vain. Finally it became clear that the whole case was false and the journalist was released. “
The PCI statement also noted that Delhi police have been making “absurd” arrests of JNU and Jamia academics, especially civil society opponents such as Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid.
Describing Sharma’s six-day police detention as “mind-blowing”, the Press Council of India claimed that he wrote on “strategic matters and may well have accessed over-classified information routinely on the Internet that is in the public domain.”
“Over time, the matter will reach the magistracy and probably the highest levels of the judiciary. However, it is our demand that in all cases of arrests of journalists anywhere in the country, the police should be required to report to the Press Council of India as well as the media self-regulatory body in a manner. immediate, and provide relevant details so that it is possible to build a defense, “the statement said.
Delhi police held a press conference on Saturday afternoon about the arrest of Sharma, who had been writing on defense and foreign affairs for various Indian media organizations, as well as foreign media such as the Chinese state newspaper. Global times and from Russia RT.
Deputy Police Commissioner (special cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav told reporters that Chinese intelligence agents had contacted Sharma in 2016. The police officer alleged that the independent journalist received “40 lakh rupees in a year and a half and obtaining USD 1,000 for each information ”, according to PTI.
He added that a Chinese national and her Nepalese partner have also been arrested for allegedly paying Sharma large amounts of money sent through shell companies.
Note: This article is about the Press Club of India and not about the Press Council of India, with which it shares the same initials. In an earlier version of this story, the two bodies were inadvertently confused.
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