A trainee reporter with the Kashmir Walla, Sajad Gul, was reportedly arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy and other penal charges in Srinagar, the news portal reported today.
According to Kashmir Walla, the arrest comes days after Gul "posted a video of family members and relatives raising anti-India slogans after the killing of their kin, a militant, in a gunfight in Srinagar". The militant, Salim Parray, was killed on January 3.
Gul is also pursuing his masters in journalism at the Central University of Kashmir.
Gul's family member told Kashmir Walla the journalist had been "detained in an army raid on January 5" and "later handed over to the police". The website confirmed Gul's arrest and the case registered against him with a police officer.
The media organisation's editor, Fahad Shah, confirmed the news as well on social media.
Another @tkwmag journalist, Sajad Gul, who recently joined, has been booked for “criminal conspiracy, incitement” & more. I strongly condemn this & stress that journalism shouldn’t be criminalised. Our legal team is working to seek his earliest release. https://t.co/sJdrRjBlrv
— Fahad Shah (@pzfahad) January 7, 2022
The Asia desk of the Committee to Protect Journalists tweeted that it was "deeply disturbed" by reports of Gul's arrest and urged authorities to "immediately release" him.
#Kashmir: CPJ is deeply disturbed by reports that Kashmiri journalist @SajadGUL_ was arrested days after posting a video of a protest on social media. Authorities must immediately release Gul and drop their investigations related to his journalistic work.https://t.co/PuaSpMRZwh https://t.co/fR9Qof29eI
— CPJ Asia (@CPJAsia) January 7, 2022
On December 29, Article 14 published a report on Gul, stating he was facing "police cases for doing his job". The report quoted him as saying, "Whenever I start working or reading, in the back of my mind I have this thought that police may raid my house any time."
Also Read: Why do we keep ignoring violations of journalists’ rights in Kashmir?
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