A magistrate in India’s Jammu and Kashmir region approved the detention of the respected Kashmiri journalist and editor Fahad Shah under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) on the grounds that he had been “misguiding common masses by circulating fake news against the government and its policies.”
Fahad Shah, editor of The Kashmir Walla, who has faced multiple charges since his initial arrest on February 4, was sentenced under Jammu and Kashmir’s Public Safety Act (PSA) on March 14, which allows up to two years detainment without trial. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Indian affiliate, the Indian Journalists Union (IJU), condemn continued legal harassment under the draconian PSA, and urge the region’s administration to immediately drop all charges against him.