Indian court convicts Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik in ‘fictitious terrorism case’

Top Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik was convicted by an Indian court in a “terrorism-related case” after he protested the charges levelled against him, saying he is a freedom fighter, according to Indian media reports.

The Delhi court on Thursday asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to assess his financial situation in order to determine the amount of fine to be imposed.

Malik was also directed by the court to file an affidavit disclosing all sources of his income and assets.

The court will hear the arguments on the quantum of sentence on May 25.

The charges levelled against him included raising funds for the terrorist act, criminal conspiracy, sedition and others.

“Terrorism-related charges levelled against me are concocted, fabricated and politically motivated,” his organisation, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, cited him as telling the court.

“If seeking Azadi (freedom) is a crime, then I am ready to accept this crime and its consequences,” he told the judge.

A day earlier, the Indian Charge d’ Affaires (Cd’A) was called to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and handed over a demarche conveying Pakistan’s strong condemnation on the framing of fabricated charges against Yasin Malik, who is currently imprisoned at Tihar jail by the Indian authorities.

According to the FO spokesperson, the Indian diplomat was conveyed Pakistan’s grave concern that in a bid to suppress the voice of the indigenous Kashmiri leadership, the Indian government had resorted to implicating them in fictitious and motivated cases.

Also read: Pakistan strongly condemns fabricated charges against Yasin Malik

Neither the malevolent Indian tactics of conjuring up false charges against Kashmiri leadership nor the environment of persecution, repression and intimidation could quash the resolute struggle of the Kashmiris, the spokesperson added.

The Indian side was also conveyed Pakistan’s deep concern over Malik’s incarceration in Tihar Jail since 2019 under inhuman conditions. The brutal treatment meted out to him despite his chronic ailments and denial of decent health care facilities had resulted in steep decline in his health, he said.

The Cd’A was advised to prevail upon his government that rather than unlawfully keeping the Kashmiri leadership hostage and denying them their fundamental human rights, it must immediately halt its state-sponsored terrorism IIOJK, release all political prisoners incarcerated on trumped-up charges, stop human rights violations, lift the inhuman military siege and let the people of IIOJK exercise their right to self-determination as enshrined in the relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

Pakistan also called upon the government of India for acquittal of Malik from all baseless charges and immediate release from prison so that he could be reunited with his family, recuperate his health and return to normal life.

Pakistan also urged the international community, including the UN and relevant human rights and humanitarian organisations to take immediate cognizance of the inhuman treatment meted out by India to one of the most prominent Kashmiri leaders, who had been leading a peaceful freedom struggle for the last many decades.