SRINAGAR: Asif Sultan, the Kashmiri journalist, was released from Ambedkar Nagar district jail in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, around 78 days after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court nullified his detention order under the Public Safety Act.
Asif Sultan was released after more than five years of imprisonment, initially under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Ranbir Penal Code, and later under the PSA.
According to Girija Shankar Yadav, the jailor at Ambedkar Nagar prison, despite the court granting bail, they must adhere to a procedure for releasing Kashmiri prisoners. This process purportedly involves obtaining clearance letters from Kashmir’s home department and district magistrate.
Newslaundry quoted Yadav as saying that Asif’s family provided the clearance letter to the jail authorities, following which he was promptly released.
In September 2018, Asif, who was then a reporter with Kashmir Narrator, was arrested under the UAPA for allegedly providing support to a banned militant group.
Four years later, on April 5, 2022, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court granted him bail, citing a lack of evidence linking him to any militant group.
However, just four days later, the Srinagar district magistrate detained him under the PSA.
