Alt News founders Mohammad Zubair, Pratik Sinha among ‘favourites’ for Nobel Peace Prize: Report
Mohammad Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 27 this year over a meme he had tweeted in 2018 against a Hindu deity that allegedly hurt religious sentiments.
India's renowned fact-checkers and founders of alternate media platform Alt News Mohammad Zubair and Pratik Sinha are reportedly among the contenders for the Nobel Peace Prize 2022.
According to a list of ‘favourites’ compiled by Time magazine, the fact-checking duo have been featured on it based on nominations that were made public via Norwegian lawmakers, predictions from bookmakers, and picks from the Peace Research Institute Oslo.
Among other strong contenders are Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
The results of Nobel Peace Prize 2022 will be announced at 11am local time on Friday in Oslo, Norway.
Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 27 this year over a meme he had tweeted in 2018 against a Hindu deity that allegedly hurt religious sentiments.
He remained in police and judicial custody for nearly a month. The fact-checker had half a dozen FIRs lodged against him in different parts of Uttar Pradesh for the tweet. The UP police had also set up a special investigation team to probe the allegations.
The incident gained international attention after journalists around the world condemned the arrest, calling it an impediment on press freedom.
He was granted bail by the Supreme Court on July 20. The top court also refused to restrain Zubair from tweeting in the future as sought by the BJP-led UP government.
