SRINAGAR: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday appealed to the Government of India to review the life imprisonment awarded to Asiya Andrabi, seeking her release on parole on humanitarian grounds, citing her age and long period in custody.
Speaking to reporters during a plantation drive at her party office in Srinagar, Mufti said the concept of life imprisonment should be reconsidered and restricted to a fixed term, as was followed earlier.
Her remarks came a day after a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in New Delhi sentenced Andrabi to life imprisonment in a 2018 secession-related case. Her associates, Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen, were each awarded 30 years in prison.
Mufti said Andrabi has already spent considerable time in detention and her case should be viewed from a humanitarian perspective. She reiterated that life imprisonment should be limited to 14 years, as was previously practised, and noted that the government has granted parole to several convicts in the past.
While making the appeal, Mufti clarified that she does not support Andrabi’s ideology but stressed that humanitarian considerations should prevail in her case.
