KASHMIRI JOURNALIST FAHAD SHAH ‘RE-ARRESTED’ HOURS AFTER COURT GRANTED BAIL

Sun 27 January 2022:

Fawad Shah, the editor of the Kashmir Walla news website, was arrested for the first time on February 4th in Kashmir. At least 50 news organizations and human rights organizations have condemned his detention.

Fahad Shah, a Kashmiri journalist, was re-arrested on Saturday in a different case just hours after receiving bail.

Shah was re-arrested on Saturday after three official complaints were filed against him for “glorifying terrorism, spreading fake news and inciting general public for creating law and order situation” according to Jammu and Kashmir Police Chief Vijay Kumar.

“He (Shah) is now lodged in ImamSahib police station under FIR 06/2021, with charges under Sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief),” The Kashmir Walla said in a statement released on Sunday.

On Saturday, the court granted bail to Shah after he was in custody for 22 days.

Earlier, Shah was arrested for reporting an encounter in south Kashmir; some locals claimed that a person who was killed by the authorities was a civilian, not a militant, as the police claim.

At the time, the Editors Guild of India and other press bodies condemned the arrest of Shah and demanded his release.

Editors Guild of India Condemns Arrest of Kashmiri Journalist - Sputnik International, 1920, 27.02.2022

In January, another The Kashmir Walla reporter Sajad Gul was arrested on 6 January under the preventive detention law for posting a video of protests on social media.

The journalist allegedly posted a video of family members of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Salim Parray protesting against his death in a gunfight on the outskirts of Srinagar.

In April 2020, an independent reporter, Gowhar Geelani, was also booked for “glorifying terrorism in Kashmir.”

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