New Delhi: India has called ‘baseless’ and ‘unwarranted’, the UN Special Procedures’ claim that journalist Rana Ayyub has been subjected to “judicial harassment”.In the note, UN human rights experts Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression and Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, have called on Indian authorities to investigate the “relentless misogynistic and sectarian” attacks on Ayyub online and the judicial harassment she is allegedly being subjected to.To this, the official Twitter account of India’s Permanent Mission in Geneva has responded that “allegations of so-called judicial harassment are baseless and unwarranted”.“India upholds the rule of law, but is equally clear that no one is above the law. We expect SRs [special rapporteurs] to be objective and accurately informed. Advancing a misleading narrative only tarnishes @UNGeneva’s reputation,” it wrote.Allegations of so-called judicial harassment are baseless & unwarranted. India upholds the rule of law, but is equally clear that no one is above the law. We expect SRs to be objective & accurately informed. Advancing a misleading narrative only tarnishes @UNGeneva’s reputation https://t.co/3OyHq4HncD— India at UN, Geneva (@IndiaUNGeneva) February 21, 2022Official sources told The Wire that this will be followed up by a Note Verbale from India’s Permanent Mission in Geneva, which will also take the issue up with the UN Office in Geneva.“Relentless misogynistic and sectarian attacks online against journalist Rana Ayyub must be promptly and thoroughly investigated by the Indian authorities and the judicial harassment against her brought to an end at once,” the UN experts note in their press release.“In response to Ms. Ayyub’s efforts to shine a light on public interest issues and hold power to account through her reporting, she has been maliciously targeted with anonymous death and rape threats by organised groups online,” said the experts.“The lack of condemnation and proper investigation by the Government, coupled with the legal harassment it has itself inflicted on Ms. Ayyub, has only served to falsely legitimise the attacks and attackers and further endangered her safety.”The note mentions the Enforcement Directorate’s actions against Ayyub and her bank accounts.“On 11 February, for the second time in six months, Ms. Ayyub’s bank account and other assets were frozen in response to seemingly baseless allegations of money laundering and tax fraud, related to her crowd-funding campaigns to provide assistance to those affected by the pandemic. As with many of the spurious and defamatory accusations made against Ms. Ayyub in retaliation for her reporting, the experts said, the false allegations can be traced back to a far-right social media group,” the UN said.Ayyub released a statement rejecting the Enforcement Directorate’s allegation that she misused donor funds raised as COVID-19 relief.The ED on February 10 was reported to have attached over Rs 1.77 crores of bank deposits to Ayyub in connection with a money laundering probe it has initiated against her, connected to alleged irregularities in charitable funds raised from public donors.The UN human rights experts said the Indian government “is not only failing in its obligation to protect Ms. Ayyub as a journalist, but through its own investigations of Ms. Ayyub, it is also contributing to and exacerbating her perilous situation.”