[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]An award-winning journalist in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK), Asif Sultan, who spent over five years in jail, returned home on Wednesday after a court granted him bail in an ongoing terrorism case.
Sultan, a reporter for a now-defunct magazine, was first arrested in August 2018 on charges of “harboring known militants.” Additional charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) were later filed against him for allegedly participating in a jail riot.
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Although Sultan was briefly bailed in February, he was re-arrested two days later on new UAPA charges. A relative and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) confirmed that Sultan had been released again this week.
“He returned home today, but the bail conditions are very harsh. He is virtually banned from talking to anyone outside the family,” the relative told AFP, choosing to remain anonymous due to fear of reprisal.
Kunal Majumder of CPJ posted on social media platform X that Sultan was bailed on Tuesday. A court document seen by AFP, dated Friday, stated that Sultan’s detention “did not serve any purpose” and granted him bail under strict conditions.
Sultan is prohibited from traveling outside IoK, using encrypted communication apps like WhatsApp, and allowing anyone else to use his phone.
More than half a million Indian soldiers are deployed in IoK, combating a freedom movement from groups demanding independence or the region’s merger with Pakistan. The conflict has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, mostly civilians.
Kashmiri journalists claim that independent media has suffered since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked the region’s limited autonomy and imposed a strict security clampdown in 2019. —AFP[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
