After the US and Germany reacted to the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)supremo Arvind Kejriwal, the United Nations (UN) also waded into the controversy by saying that the world body hoped for the protection of people’s “political and civil rights” during elections in India and other nations.

A spokesperson of the United Nations weighed in on the matter and said that he hoped “everyone’s rights are protected in India”.

In a press briefing on Thursday, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said, “What we very much hope that in India, as in any country that is having elections, that everyone’s rights are protected, including political and civil rights, and everyone is able to vote in an atmosphere that is free and fair.”

Also Read: US speaks again on Kejriwal, mentions frozen Congress accounts after India summons diplomat

Dujarric made the remarks while responding to a question on the “political unrest” in India in the wake of Kejriwal’s arrest and freezing of Congress party’s bank accounts.

Earlier, the United States twice commented on the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal and charges of the freezing of opposition Congress party bank accounts ahead of an election. A State Department spokesperson on Monday said the US is closely following reports of the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal and encourages a fair legal process, drawing strong objection from India which summoned the acting US deputy chief of mission in New Delhi, Gloria Berbena.

“India’s legal processes are based on an independent judiciary which is committed to objective and timely outcomes. Casting aspersions on that is unwarranted,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

Washington, however, doubled down its call for India to carry out “fair, transparent, and timely legal processes for each of these issues.”

Also Read: India expresses ‘Strong Objection’ to US remarks on Kejriwal’s arrest

“We continue to follow these actions closely, including the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. We are also aware of the Congress party’s allegations that tax authorities have frozen some of their bank accounts in a manner that will make it challenging to effectively campaign in the upcoming elections. And we encourage fair, transparent and timely legal processes for each of these issues,” the US State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said.

Earlier on Friday, Sebastian Fischer, spokesperson for Germany’s foreign office, had said, “We assume and expect that the standards relating to independence of judiciary and basic democratic principles will also be applied in this case.”

The External Affairs Ministry has strongly objected to comments from both countries, reiterating that it was an internal matter.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 in the Delhi liquor policy case, days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. On March 22, he was sent to a 7-day ED custody. Then on March 28, he was again sent for 4-day custody till April 1.