Indian journalist and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair was released from jail on Wednesday (July 20). He was granted bail by the Indian Supreme Court.

The police also charged him with criminal conspiracy, destroying evidence and receiving foreign funds in at least half a dozen other cases.

Mohammed Zubair is a co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News. He is a critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, and regularly tracks and highlights anti-Muslim hate speech by Hindu right-wing activists and politicians.

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He was detained because of a tweet from 2018 that included a screenshot from a well-known Hindi film, which authorities claim was insulting to Hindu religious beliefs.

Just a few days prior to his detention, he had called attention to Nupur Sharma, a suspended BJP spokeswoman, who had made offensive remarks about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) during a TV debate.

Journalists allege that BJP-linked trolls weaponised Twitter and the law to send Zubair to jail in a fake case.