Journalist Aasif Sultan, Assistant Editor of the Srinagar-based English magazine Kashmir Narrator, was rearrested on 29th February 2024, just two days after being released from a five-year detention. Sultan was first arrested in September 2018 on allegations of "harbouring militants," but in April 2022, a court granted him bail, observing that the investigation agencies had failed to establish his links to any militant groups.
Despite being granted bail, Sultan was later detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA), a controversial law allowing preventive detention. His detention under the PSA was quashed by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in January 2024, leading to his release from a jail in Uttar Pradesh on 27th February 2024.
However, on 29th February 2024, just two days after his release, Sultan was arrested again by Kashmir Police from his residence. He was presented in court on 1st March 2024 and remanded to five days in police custody.
This incident has sparked widespread media attention, with calls for intervention from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) under Section 12(a) of the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Act, 2019. Several groups are urging the NHRC to initiate an independent inquiry into the case.
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