UP CM behaving foolishly, needs to release arrested journalists: Rahul
New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday criticised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the arrest of journalists for sharing a post on him.
He tweeted: “If every journalist who files a false report or peddles fake, vicious RSS/BJP sponsored propaganda about me is put in jail, most newspapers/ news channels would face a severe staff shortage. The UP CM is behaving foolishly & needs to release the arrested journalists.”
If every journalist who files a false report or peddles fake, vicious RSS/BJP sponsored propaganda about me is put in jail, most newspapers/ news channels would face a severe staff shortage.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 11, 2019
The UP CM is behaving foolishly & needs to release the arrested journalists. https://t.co/KtHXUXbgKS
Rahul’s comments back the need for protecting media freedom and come after protests against the arrest of journalists including Prashant Kanojia.
Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered immediate release of Prashant Kanojia, on a plea filed by his wife.
Prashant Kanojia, a freelance journalist, was arrested by Uttar Pradesh police in Delhi on Saturday for a tweet that had “objectionable comment” on Adityanath.
Kanojia was arrested after a complaint was filed alleging that he tried to “malign” the Chief Minister’s image. He had shared a video on Twitter and Facebook of a woman speaking to reporters outside Adityanath’s office, claiming that she had sent him a marriage proposal.
Apart from Kanojia, Ishika Singh, who heads private news channel Nation Live and Anuj Shukla, its editor was arrested, in Noida on Saturday. On June 6, during a debate on the channel, the woman, whose video Kanojia shared, had allegedly made defamatory remarks against the state CM.
