Lawfare, Defamation – Journalists

On May 26, Rajasthan police in Pali district opened a criminal investigation into Virendra Singh Rajpurohit, an independent journalist who runs the YouTube channel News 30 Rajasthan, on charges of extortion and defamation for his critical analysis on the channel of the death of a labor leader in police custody, according to the journalist who spoke to CPJ via phone, and Indian Express.

According to Rajpurohit and court records, the Rajasthan High Court ordered the police not to arrest the journalist while conducting its investigation, but stipulated that if the investigation produces evidence to detain Rajpurohit, that the journalist must be given a 15-day warning before his arrest.