• A UN expert has joined human rights groups to express concern over the arrest of Teesta Setalvad.
• She is charged with “committing forgery and forging evidence,” among other things.
• A UN expert has expressed concern over her arrest, “strong voice against hatred and discrimination”.

A day after the country’s Supreme Court upheld the conclusions of a special investigation team (SIT), which cleared Prime Minister Narendra Modi of involvement in the 2002 anti-Muslim riots, a UN expert has joined international human rights groups in expressing concern over the arrest of Indian rights advocate Teesta Setalvad.

The Gujarat police’s anti-terrorism unit arrested Setalvad on Saturday afternoon after accusing her of providing false information to the authorities regarding the deadly anti-Muslim riots that took place while Modi was the state’s chief minister. Amit Shah is a close ally of Modi.

Mary Lawlor, a UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, tweeted that Setalvad was “a strong voice against hatred and discrimination,” adding that she was “deeply concerned by reports of #WHRD [Human Rights Defender] Teesta Setalvad being detained by Anti Terrorism Sqaud [sic] of Gujarat police.”

As she pleaded with the Indian government to free Setalvad and put “an end to [her] oppression by Indian state,” Lawlor reaffirmed that advocating for human rights was not illegal.

In Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s largest city, Setalvad, who has long advocated for the victims of the 2002 religious violence, was brought before a municipal court on Sunday. She is charged with “committing forgery and forging evidence,” among other things, by the police.

According to a complaint that Setalvad’s assistant gave to Al Jazeera, Setalvad claimed that the police attacked her during the raid and that her arrest was unlawful.

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