Srinagar: To monitor the trial of Asif Sultan, the award-winning Kashmiri journalist, the Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ) has stepped in and urged the authorities to ensure that his bail hearing is conducted in accordance with international human rights law.
Sultan, a journalist for the Kashmir Narrator, completed two and half years in jail. He is lodged at Central Jail Srinagar, nearly 4 km away from his home at Batamaloo where his wife and three-year-old daughter live.
He has been booked under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The CFJ was established in late 2016 by George and Amal Clooney. George Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Amal, his wife, is a Lebanese-born British barrister, specialising in international law and human rights.
“He has been imprisoned since his arrest in August 2018 and was only indicted 5 months later. He is now charged with supporting a terrorist group (the Hizbul Mujahideen) and conspiring to kill a police officer, and if convicted after trial, faces the death penalty,” the CFJ, spokesperson said.
TrialWatch, the Foundation’s initiative which monitors and grades the fairness of trials of vulnerable people around the world, including journalists, will monitor the trial of Sultan.
“The Clooney Foundation for Justice calls on the authorities to ensure that Sultan’s bail hearing is conducted in accordance with international human rights law and any proceedings against him respect his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression,” a CFJ spokesperson said.
The indictment cites Sultan’s social media posts and possession of letter pads of the Hizbul Mujahideen in his home as evidence of his involvement with the banned group.
Sultan’s hearing for bail was set for Friday.
Earlier this month National Press Club (NPC) leaders of the United States urged New Delhi to release him from prison.
“Sultan was arrested in August 2018 on an unwarranted charge of harboring militants, although all he had done was an interview and write about them,” said NPC leaders in a statement issued from Washington.
“Since he was imprisoned, almost all of his scheduled court dates in his trial have been postponed. His fate remains uncertain. He is at risk of contracting COVID-19 in crowded prison conditions. His father has a heart condition, and his entire family is distraught,” it said.
The NPC President Lisa Nicole Matthews and NPC Journalism Institute President Angela Greiling Keane said: “The National Press Club recognized Aasif Sultan with a 2019 John Aubuchon Press Freedom honor, singling him out among the world’s many journalists under duress, because his mistreatment was so egregious and because he was one of many journalists and citizens whose rights were abused in Kashmir.”
“Mr. Sultan remains in prison, and that is simply wrong. All he did was his job. On behalf of journalists everywhere, we say: it is past time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do what is necessary to allow Mr. Sultan to rejoin his family.”
Jammu and Kashmir Police maintained that Sultan has not been booked for any of his professional works but for allegedly harbouring and supporting militants who killed a policeman.
However, Sultan’s family and various journalists’ associations insist he was victimised for his journalism.
