Recent attacks against journalists covering a high-profile sedition case have heightened concerns about the state of press freedom in India. CPJ has reported frequently on journalists there coming under attack from police, criminals, politicians, and others. Now lawyers have to be added to the list.
Excerpt of a 19 February 2016 CPJ Blog post by By Sumit Galhotra, CPJ Asia Program Senior Research Associate.
Attacks this week against journalists covering a high-profile sedition case have heightened concerns about the state of press freedom in India. CPJ has reported frequently on journalists there coming under attack from police, criminals, politicians, and others. Now lawyers have to be added to the list.
On Monday [February 15, 2016], lawyers threatened, manhandled, and beat several journalists inside Patiala House court complex in Delhi as they attempted to cover a court hearing of Jawaharlal Nehru University student union leader Kanhaiya Kumar, whose case has sparked a fierce national debate on free speech. The journalists said they recognized some of their assailants as lawyers, and that others wore the black robes of legal professionals.
Journalists belonging to NDTV, the Indian Express, Economic Times, IBN7, the Indo-Asian News Service, and regional outlets were targeted. Many gave accounts of being attacked or witnessing colleagues being beaten.
