Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Guernica 37 Chambers call on the European Union to sanction four high-ranking officers of the Delhi police, responsible – directly or indirectly – for exactions against dozens of journalists working or having collaborated with the independent media NewsClick.
By RSF team
The arbitrary raid by the Indian police against journalists working for the independent online media NewsClick must not go unaddressed. RSF and lawyers from Guernica 37 Chambers, which specializes in human rights and international criminal law, submitted the case to the European External Action Service (the European Union’s diplomatic service) with a request to refer it to Member States to adopt sanctions against four officials of the Delhi police’s counter-terrorism unit, who are implicated in an unprecedented crackdown on journalists in the country.
On their orders, members of this Special Cell raided the homes of 46 journalists in the capital and surrounding towns in October 2023. All were journalists, contributors or former employees of NewsClick, an independent media founded in 2009. More than 480 electronic devices – including telephones and laptops – were seized. Two members of the media company – Human Resources Director Amit Chakravarty and NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha – were taken into custody and charged under the draconian UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) anti-terrorism law. They have since been detained in Delhi’s Tihar prison.
RSF and Guernica 37 are calling for European Union sanctions against these police officers, under a scheme introduced in December 2020 to address serious human rights violations in third countries. These can range from a ban on entering the European Union to the freezing of assets on that territory and the prohibition of doing business with European entities.
This story was originally published in rsf.org. Read the full story here.
