Juno News - Punjab police are trying to kill Juno News and gag our reporters

00:00:00.000 Over the last few months, Juno News has been in the fight of our lives.

00:00:03.720 We have kept it secret until now, but since it's been made public by others,

00:00:08.080 we need to let you know, our readers, what is happening.

00:00:14.240 Police in Punjab, India have opened criminal investigations into Juno News and our journalists.

00:00:21.220 Our journalists working here in Canada.

00:00:23.920 It all started when I went to an Indian student protest in Calgary.

00:00:28.160 This went internationally viral, and afterwards, we started digging into the pipeline of students

00:00:34.820 coming from Punjab to Canada. Now, Melanie, one of our lead reporters, is under criminal

00:00:42.020 investigation in Punjab. It says here, the cybercrime police in Punjab have contacted

00:00:48.700 Elon Musk himself, claiming two of our posts violate Indian law and are seeking their removal

00:00:54.460 as part of a broader criminal investigation into our reporting.

00:00:58.800 Reporting that is informing Canadians about issues of extreme public interest.

00:01:03.320 Let that sink in.

00:01:04.620 A police force thousands of kilometers away is reaching into our work,

00:01:09.140 the work of a Canadian newsroom, trying to stop us.

00:01:12.700 I consider this an attempt to interfere with our journalists

00:01:16.340 and prevent our reporting to Canadians

00:01:18.520 who have every right to watch and read the news that we publish,

00:01:22.920 news that is in the public interest people who are in this student business are furious and we've

00:01:28.920 received our fair share of lawfare trying to stop us from digging further we will not let that happen

00:01:35.640 but we need you because without you our journalists risk being arrested by the punjab police if they

00:01:43.480 ever go somewhere under the control of india something that is turning into a police state

00:01:49.860 We've retained lawyers here based in Calgary.

00:01:51.900 They have connections to lawyers in Punjab,

00:01:53.900 and they are going to make sure that we have the best defense possible.

00:01:57.460 You can read about it at defendjuno.com.

00:02:00.080 For months, our reporters have been asking questions about student recruitment,

00:02:04.400 colleges, immigration, and where that money goes.

00:02:07.300 Who is recruiting people?

00:02:08.640 What are they being promised?

00:02:09.920 Who profits when they arrive?

00:02:11.320 And who is protecting students?

00:02:14.140 And, most importantly to me, the Canadian taxpayer, you.

00:02:18.380 when something goes wrong. These questions deserve scrutiny. Our journalists should be

00:02:22.540 able to follow the evidence without worrying about a foreign police force trying to prevent

00:02:27.580 our reporting. Yet here we are having to get lawyers involved to understand these demands

00:02:33.180 and protect the people that are doing really great work on your behalf. This fundraiser is

00:02:38.540 specifically about protecting our reporters against Indian police interference in our Canadian

00:02:44.860 journalism and there's something else that you should know we were planning on sending our

00:02:49.100 journalists to india we wanted them to investigate these issues in depth to follow that pipeline of

00:02:55.420 people that i was talking about earlier this pipeline of students back to its source to speak

00:03:00.780 with people being recruited examine the promises being made and investigate the businesses making

00:03:06.060 money along the way there are human lives inside this story families putting their savings on the

00:03:12.700 line students making decisions that could shape the rest of their lives and canadians are funding

00:03:18.860 a system that they deserve to understand now i have to reconsider i have to consider what our

00:03:25.740 reporters would face if they travel to india let alone the fundamental freedoms in canada

00:03:31.580 that are being infringed upon when police in punjab are already objecting to our journalism

00:03:36.540 from canada i have a responsibility to take that seriously and what could happen to our journalistic

00:03:41.900 team if i sent them to india we need lawyers who understand the risks i need our reporters to have

00:03:47.980 support and i need to make decisions about their safety with proper advice that costs money money

00:03:54.620 that we need to divert from our newsroom to lawyers something i never like doing there's

00:03:59.260 also a broader pressure on this newsroom that we've kept largely private and i don't want to get

00:04:04.300 too in the weeds on that right now for months lawyers have been helping us respond to legal

00:04:09.180 demands concerning our reporting ever since that day i went to a protest in northeast calgary we

00:04:15.740 have received repeated legal notices and we're defending currently a lawsuit seeking more than a

00:04:20.780 million dollars from our newsroom i'm keeping the identities and details of those civil disputes

00:04:26.380 out of this appeal but i do want you to know and you can go to a courthouse to read everything

00:04:30.460 that's happening if you'd like we intend to defend ourselves through the proper processes and once

00:04:35.580 those matters are resolved i hope to tell you more for now you should understand what this means for

00:04:40.380 a newsroom like ours hours with lawyers records to preserve documents to review bills arriving

00:04:46.860 while our reporters still have investigations to finish and now a foreign police force demanding

00:04:53.740 action over our journalists posts on a free platform like x i know what it feels like to

00:04:59.900 have police taken interest in my journalism it's happened more times than i can count when i was in

00:05:05.340 Hong Kong reporting on the democracy protests, Chinese police entered my hotel room without a

00:05:11.020 warrant and tried to get access to my device data. I remember what that felt like, and I don't want

00:05:16.140 my reporters to go through the same thing. You start thinking about your sources, your equipment,

00:05:20.780 your next move, and whether doing your job is going to put someone else in danger or yourself.

00:05:26.300 Seeing police in India reach into our newsroom brings those experiences straight back to me.

00:05:32.380 I see the same authoritarian instincts trying to make journalists fear the consequences of asking

00:05:38.220 questions. I will not accept that this is the normal cost of being a Canadian journalist. Frankly,

00:05:46.220 Mark Carney needs to speak up. The Prime Minister himself should publicly be defending Canadian

00:05:53.340 journalists and demand answers about this police interference in our fundamental freedoms in this

00:05:59.900 nation. His government should raise this directly with Indian authorities. Freedom of the press

00:06:05.500 needs to matter in Canada's relationship with India more than anything else. A Canadian journalist

00:06:10.620 should be able to investigate matters of public interest in this country and in that country and

00:06:14.140 know that their government will take foreign pressure seriously, as seriously as they would

00:06:18.700 if Donald Trump was doing it or Xi Jinping himself. If that basic expectation cannot be met, Canadians

00:06:24.700 deserve to ask hard questions about the relationship between Canada and India. And in the meantime,

00:06:29.580 i have a newsroom to protect when melanie uncovers something that needs investigating i want her to

00:06:36.140 keep digging i don't want her to shy away not that she would when any of our reporters finds

00:06:41.580 a connection worth examining i want them to follow the evidence to get the records to check

00:06:48.300 the facts and ask the questions that matter i want them to give people an opportunity to respond and

00:06:54.060 then publish what we can substantiate because you deserve the truth you deserve answers and we're

00:06:59.020 not going to shy away from that that's the work that canadians count on us at juno news to do

00:07:05.340 every new legal demand consumes time consumes money and a foreign police request as another

00:07:11.100 layer of uncertainty to my reporters if we cannot afford to protect our reporters

00:07:16.860 investigations get delayed trips get cancelled stories go uncovered and the victims are canadians

00:07:23.980 that is how pressure on one newsroom becomes a loss for everyone who relies on its reporting

00:07:28.700 If you go to defendjuno.com, your contribution will help us obtain legal advice and representation

00:07:36.940 to respond to this outrageous Indian police interference and assess the risks facing our

00:07:42.780 journalists and put appropriate protections in place for them so they can keep doing their work.

00:07:48.060 That includes understanding the implications of their reporting, their travel, and most

00:07:52.300 importantly to me, their safety. We need the resources that challenge these demands where

00:07:57.660 appropriate and make informed decisions about how our journalists can continue their work

00:08:03.260 a one-time donation can help us respond now and monthly support can help sustain that protection

00:08:10.460 as this story develops and as the threats develop i know many canadians are stretched thin so i only

00:08:17.740 am asking people who can give what they can to support this newsroom and if you cannot donate

00:08:22.860 please share this appeal. People should know what is happening. I take responsibility for the people

00:08:28.940 who work here at Juneau News. I cannot ask Melanie or anyone else to pursue difficult investigations

00:08:35.580 and then leave them to deal with foreign police interference on their own. We are going to stand

00:08:41.020 behind them every step of the way and I hope we can count on you to do the same. We are going to

00:08:47.340 get the advice that we need, protect their ability to report, and continue asking questions about how

00:08:52.700 this started and how it all continues to impact Canadian taxpayers. The public interest in this

00:08:58.620 story remains extremely high and so does our determination to investigate it. Our journalists

00:09:03.820 deserve protection. Canadians, they deserve answers. Help us secure both. Go to defendjuno.com

00:09:11.980 and help me defend our journalists, defend the truth, and defend this country.

00:09:22.700 Thank you.

Juno News - October 16, 2026

Punjab police are trying to kill Juno News and gag our reporters

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