India: Muslim journalist Mohammed Zubair to be released on bail

Mohammed Zubair was arrested last month over a satirical tweet from 2018 that allegedly hurt religious sentiments. The arrest prompted criticism from Germany.

Zubair was arrested after an anonymous Twitter user lodged a complaint 

over a tweet he posted in 2018

India's Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail and ordered the release of prominent Muslim journalist Mohammed Zubair. 

Zubair was arrested in New Delhi last month over what police said was a "highly provocative" 2018 tweet that authorities claim was insulting to Hindu religious beliefs.

In a separate case, he was charged for using the term "hatemongers" for Hindu monks who had made inflammatory comments about Muslims.

Police also charged him with criminal conspiracy, destroying evidence and receiving foreign funds in at least half a dozen other cases in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Human rights groups have accused Indian authorities of increasingly picking on journalists and online critics, a claim denied by government officials.

Germany had called out India after Zubair's arrest, saying journalists should not be "persecuted and imprisoned" for their work. 

What did the court say?

Judges asked authorities to combine all cases against him into one and immediately release him. 

"In [the] present case [there is] no justification for keeping him in continued detention and subject him to an endless round of proceedings in various courts,'' the Supreme Court said. 

The court also rebuked the government of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh for asking the judges to order Zubair to stop tweeting. 

"How can you tell a journalist he cannot write," said Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud.

Who is Mohammed Zubair?

Zubair is a co-founder of Alt News, India's most prominent fact-checking news website.

He is a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and has routinely called out hate speech by Hindu fringe groups on the internet and the marginalization of India's Muslim minority.

Zubair was arrested on June 27 after a Twitter user complained about a tweet he wrote in 2018, accusing him of mocking a Hindu god.

His arrest came just days after he brought international attention to controversial remarks made by a ruling party official against Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

The detention sparked a backlash against India, which rejected such criticism and insisted it was a "domestic issue."

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner raised concern, saying the embassy in India was closely monitoring the situation. 

Indian authorities have increasingly targeted journalists in recent years, with some getting arrested and facing criminal charges over social media posts. 

The country fell eight places in this year's Press Freedom Index published by the watchdog group Reporters Without Borders, ranking 150 among 180 nations.