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Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah walks out of jail after 600 days | Freedom of the Press News<\/p>\n
Prominent Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah has been freed from jail after more than 600 days of confinement after a court granted him bail, saying there was \u201cnot enough evidence\u201d to try him for terrorism.<\/p>\n
Shah, 34, was released from Kot Bhalwal Jail in the region\u2019s southern city of Jammu on Thursday, an official told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
Shah is the owner and editor of the independent news portal Kashmir Walla, banned earlier this year by the Indian government for undeclared reasons.<\/p>\n
In its bail order last week, the region\u2019s High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh said the Special Investigation Agency (SIA), a local agency formed earlier this year, lacked evidence against Shah to prove charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a stringent terror law.<\/p>\n
The UAPA has been criticised by several rights groups as draconian and mainly used by India\u2019s Hindu nationalist government to target political opponents, activists and dissidents.<\/p>\n
Shah was accused of \u201cglorifying terrorism\u201d and \u201cspreading fake news\u201d for publishing a piece by Abdul Aala Fazili, a pharmacy student at the University of Kashmir, which reportedly talked about the Indian \u201coccupation\u201d and freedom for the region. Fazili, who was also arrested along with Shah, remains in jail.<\/p>\n
The court said while the said opinion piece purportedly called for the secession of Indian-administered Kashmir, its publication \u201cdoesn\u2019t incite violence or an armed insurrection against the state\u201d. It quashed certain charges against him, including \u201cabetting terrorism, waging war against the country and promoting enmity\u201d under the UAPA.<\/p>\n
While the court acknowledged that getting bail under the UAPA was difficult, it could not be denied to Shah because he did not pose a \u201cclear and present danger\u201d to society if released.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would mean that any criticism of the central government can be described as a terrorist act because the honour of India is its incorporeal property. Such a proposition would collide headlong with the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression enshrined in Article 19 of the constitution,\u201d the court said in its bail order.<\/p>\n
Shah will continue to face trial under other sections of the UAPA and under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, which deals with receiving illegal funds.<\/p>\n
The bail was granted seven months after a regional court quashed Shah\u2019s detention under the Public Safety Act in April this year, saying \u201cthe apprehension of an adverse impact to public order is a mere surmise of the detaining authority\u201d.<\/p>\n
Shah was arrested in February 2022 over a report carried on his news portal about an encounter in Pulwama area of Indian-administered Kashmir.<\/p>\n
Police accused him of \u201cuploading anti-national content, including photographs, videos and posts with criminal intention to create fear among public\u201d.<\/p>\n
He was granted bail after 22 days by a special National Investigation Agency court.<\/p>\n
Hours later, he was arrested again on February 26 in another case related to the alleged provocation of riots. On March 5, 2022, he got bail but was arrested again in yet another case for allegedly causing rioting, attempted murder, abetment, printing or engraving defamatory matter, and public mischief.<\/p>\n
Six days later, he was charged under the UAPA after the SIA filed charges against him and Fazili. The agency accused them of \u201cnarrative terrorism\u201d for the 2011 article published on Kashmir Walla, which it called \u201chighly provocative and seditious\u201d.<\/p>\n
So far, he has managed to secure bail in three cases.<\/p>\n
On August 20, the Indian government blocked online access to Kashmir Walla and its social media accounts under the Information Act of 2000. The portal had more than a dozen journalists and freelancers as contributors, affecting their livelihood as well.<\/p>\n
Media watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), welcomed Shah\u2019s release on bail and demanded that all charges against him must be dropped and the ban on his website revoked.<\/p>\n
\nKashmiri journalist Fahad Shah has returned home Thursday after nearly two years in detention on terror charges<\/p>\n
CPJ welcomes his release on bail. All charges against Shah must be dropped and the ban on his publication The Kashmir Walla @tkwmag<\/a> revoked https:\/\/t.co\/eCjFpf1SRd pic.twitter.com\/X7NtyiTNnY<\/a><\/p>\n