Journalist Fahad Shah was granted bail in two cases by a National Investigation Agency court on Thursday. The news was tweeted by his lawyer Umair Ronga.
Special court designated under NIA today granted bail to chief editor of @tkwmag @pzfahad in FIR No 70/2020 P/S Safakadal and FIR No 19/2022 P/S Pulwama. pic.twitter.com/GgpR5YhMR9
— Umair Ronga (@umairronga) December 8, 2022
Shah, editor of online portal Kashmir Walla, was first arrested in Pulwama on February 4 for sharing “anti-national” content on social media. The content in question was allegedly a Pulwama family’s claims that their son, who had been killed in an encounter, was innocent. The police said Shah’s posts were “tantamount to glorifying the terrorist activities”.
In March, he was booked under the Public Safety Act – his lawyer Ronga alleged at the time that it was because authorities “sensed” he would get bail.
In October, the Jammu and Kashmir state investigation agency filed a chargesheet against Shah and research scholar Abdul Aala Fazili in a case of “narrative terrorism”, referring to a report filed by Fazili for Shah’s website 11 years ago. The chargesheet said the report was “highly provocative” and “intended to create unrest”. Fazili had been arrested under the UAPA in April; both he and Shah were denied bail in July.
Shah is presently in jail in Jammu. Read this report in Newslaundry on how his arrest reveals a strange pattern in how Kashmir journalists are targeted.
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