Released after five years in prison, Kashmiri journalist Asif Sultan ‘re-arrested’ within a week

Mr. Sultan was summoned by police on the day he returned home to Srinagar from a U.P. jail; he had been released 78 days after the J&K HC quashed his detention under the PSA, terming it “illegal”

Kashmiri journalist Asif Sultan, who was released after more than five years of imprisonment earlier this week, has reportedly been re-arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in a separate case in Srinagar.

The J&K police have neither denied nor confirmed the move to re-arrest Mr. Sultan. 

A former assistant editor of the magazine Kashmir Narrator, Mr. Sultan had only reached home on Thursday after his release from the Ambedkar Nagar jail in Uttar Pradesh, people close to him said. He had been released from the U.P. jail on Tuesday. 

Arrested upon homecoming

Mr. Sultan was first summoned by the Batamaloo Police Station in Srinagar on the same day he arrived at his home in the city. He was later shifted to the Rainawari Police Station, where he was re-arrested in another case. 

The details of the case could not be ascertained immediately. When contacted, the police officers refused to comment on it. Sources said that Mr. Sultan had been re-arrested in a case related to “unlawful activities” filed by the police. The scribe was named as an accused in the case, they added. 

Illegal detention under PSA: HC

Mr. Sultan had been released from the U.P. jail 78 days after the J&K High Court quashed his detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA), which permits detention without a trial for up to two years. 

Initially jailed in 2018, Mr. Sultan still faces several charges under sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), and the Ranbir Penal Code. He was accused of “providing logistical support” to militants. 

However, the High Court quashed his detention under the PSA last year, while observing that it was “illegal” and the charges “unsustainable”. Sultan has been in jail under the PSA since April 5, 2022.

National Conference leader Shafqat Watali has condemned the move as an abuse of the legal process. “Register multiple cases and when accused gets bail, detain him under PSA. Arrest him again, after 5 years of detention, in some other case even if his PSA is quashed. This is abuse of process of law and denial of constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom,” Mr. Watali said, in a post on X.