New Delhi: More than 230 journalists, news organisations, academics and artists have condemned the Delhi police’s raid on NewsClick, saying it constitutes a “worrying attack on the democratic principles of press freedom and freedom of expression”.
They said that media outlets like NewsClick strengthen democracy by “shining a light and giving a voice to those marginalized and silenced sectors of society which clamour for dignity and change”.
Expressing solidarity, they demanded the immediate release of NewsClick editor Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Amit Chakravarty, who have been arrested under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UAPA].
Read the full statement, along with the list of signatories, below.
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We, the undersigned journalists, progressive news publications, academics, artists, and political leaders, from around the world, join together to condemn the horrific repression faced by our colleagues at Newsclick and Peoples Dispatch in India on October 3, 2023. The mass raids and detentions unleashed against journalists, commentators, cartoonists, and comedians associated with the outlet, as well as the arrest of its editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha and administrator Amit Chakraborty under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act constitute a worrying attack on the democratic principles of press freedom and freedom of expression.
NewsClick is exactly the kind of media outlet which strengthens a democracy,…
