Feb 5, 2022: According to a report by Al Jazeera, Police in Indian Illegaly Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), have arrested a prominent journalist under the “anti-terror” law.

The police have cited the stringent anti terror and sedition law accusing him of “glorifying terrorism”  and “spreading fake news”, in a fast accelerating campaign against press freedoms in the region.

The 33 year old editor of The Kashmir Wala, Fahad Shah was arrested on Friday from the southern district of Pulwama – a month after Sajad Dar, a Kashmir Walla contributor, was arrested for social media posts.

Since the Narendra Modi led BJP government scrapped the special status of Kashmir in 2019, a number of IIOJK  journalists have been arrested, questioned and investigated for doing their work.

The arrest has been condmned by the CPJ and the International Press Institute, (IPI). “Authorities must immediately release Shah, and all other journalists behind bars, and cease detaining and harassing journalists for simply doing their jobs,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia programme coordinator.

Shah was among Facebook users and news portals who uploaded “anti-national” content with “criminal intent to intimidate the public,” police said in a statement issued by local media. Police said the posts were “tantamount to promoting terrorist activities and tarnishing the image of law enforcement agencies, as well as creating malice and discontent against the country.”

Shah has been booked under sedition and section 13 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) – “anti-terror” law – for advocating unlawful activity. If charged and convicted, Shan faces up to seven years in jail.

The law has stringent requirements for granting bail, which means individuals often spend months, sometimes years, in jail without being found guilty.