Release Valley scribe, panel urges Malik

Srinagar, January 16

The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent organisation which advocates press freedom worldwide, has demanded the release of Kashmiri journalist Asif Sultan, who was arrested by the J&K Police in August last year on charges of “unlawful activities”.

“We urge you to use the authority vested in you as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir to immediately ensure that Asif Sultan is released and that the charges against him are dropped,” Steven Butler, committee’s Asia programme coordinator, wrote in a letter to Governor Satya Pal Malik on January 15, seeking release and revocation of all charges levelled against the scribe.

The police in its report to the court had described Asif as an “HM sympathiser” who “eulogised Burhan Wani” through his journalistic writings. — TNS