The police remand of Fahad Shah, the founding editor of The Kashmir Walla, was extended by 7 days on Monday, 14 February.
Earlier, on 5 February, Shah was remanded to 10 days, a day after he was arrested by the police at the Pulwama Police station. He was called to submit a statement in an ongoing investigation launched after The Kashmir Walla published the reports on events at a gunfight in the south Kashmir district on 29 January 2022.
Shah’s legal team will now move to a special court designated under National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act to secure bail.
Shah, the 33-year-old who founded The Kashmir Walla in 2009, was arrested under FIR 19/2022, with charges of sedition and the anti-terror law. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment.
In a press statement, the police had identified Shah among “Facebook users” who “are uploading such posts which tantamount to glorifying the terrorist activities and causing dent to the image of law enforcing agencies besides causing ill-will [and] disaffection against the country.”
Shah’s writing has featured in reputed international magazines, including Foreign Affairs, TIME, and Foreign Policy. He was awarded the prestigious 25th Human Rights Press Awards 2021 in explanatory feature writing for his coverage of Delhi communal violence in February 2020.
Sajad Gul, a trainee reporter at The Kashmir Walla, is currently imprisoned in Jammu’s Kot Bhalwal jail under the Public Safety Act.
The team reiterates its appeal to Manoj Sinha-led Jammu and Kashmir administration for the immediate release of Shah and Gul. We hope both of them will join us back in the newsroom soon.
