From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
A Delhi court in India, has sentenced convicted Kashmiri separatist leader, Yasin Malik, to life imprisonment.
Malik’s conviction and eventual sentence was as a result of a terror funding case.
The court had on May 19, 2022, convicted Malik and directed the NIA authorities to assess his financial situation to determine the amount of fine likely to be imposed.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India had sought the death penalty for Malik in the law court.
Malik had earlier pleaded guilty of all charges brought bef6the court by the NIA, including those under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
While the agency made the submission before Special Judge Praveen Singh, the Amicus Curiae appointed by the court to assist Malik, however sought life imprisonment, the minimum punishment in the matter.
On his part, Malik told the judge that he was leaving it to the court to decide the quantum of punishment.
The Wire of India, reported that Malik had on May 10 told the court that he was not contesting the charges levelled against him which included section 16 (terrorist act), 17 (raising funds for terrorist act), 18 (conspiracy to commit terrorist act) and 20 (being member of terrorist gang or organisation) of the UAPA and sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 124-A (sedition) of the IPC.
“The court had, meanwhile, formally framed the charges against Kashmiri separatist leaders, including Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate, Shabbir Shah, Masarat Alam, Md Yusuf Shah, Aftab Ahmad Shah, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Khan, Md Akbar Khanday, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal, Bashir Ahmad Bhat, Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Abdul Rashid Sheikh and Naval Kishore Kapoor.
“The charge sheet was also filed against Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, who have been declared proclaimed offenders (PO) in the case,” The Wire wrote.