Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh on Thursday thanked Germany for “taking note” of Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Parliament as the Lok Sabha MP.

Taking to Twitter, Singh said, “Thank you German Foreign Affairs Ministry and Richard Walker for taking note of how the Democracy is being compromised in India through the persecution of Rahul Gandhi.” During a press briefing that was aired on German state-owned international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), a German ministry spokesperson stated that her country “expects that the standards of judicial independence and fundamental democratic principles will apply in the case.”

“We have taken note of the verdict of the first instance against the Indian opposition politician Rahul Gandhi as well as the suspension of his parliamentary mandate. To our knowledge, Mr Gandhi is in a position to appeal the verdict,” she is heard saying in the clip of the briefing shared on Twitter by Richard Walkar the Chief International Editor of DW

The German ministry spokesperson added, “It will then become clear whether this verdict will stand and whether the suspension of his mandate has any basis.”

Earlier this week US Department of State Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said that the US is watching Rahul Gandhi’s case in Indian courts.

Patel, responding to a question on Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification said that the US engages with the Indian government on a shared commitment to democratic values, including freedom of expression.

On March 23, Rahul Gandhi was convicted by a Surat district court and sentenced to two years imprisonment in the 2019 defamation case over his ‘Modi surname’ remark made in 2019 during an election rally in Karnataka. The criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi was filed by BJP MLA from Surat West Purnesh Modi.

After being convicted by the court, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha.

The sentence of two-year imprisonment has been suspended for 30 days before which Rahul Gandhi has to appeal against the conviction.

Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lower House of Parliament triggered a massive political row with the BJP stating that the Congress leader was “a habitual loose cannon” and the Congress alleging that he was got “deliberately disqualified”.