Yasin Malik Convicted By NIA Court On Multiple Terror-Related Charges

Yasin Malik, a terrorist and separatist leader in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), has been convicted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court after he pleaded guilty on all charges.

These included Section 16 (terrorist act), Section 17 (raising funds for the terrorist act), Section 18 (conspiracy to commit terrorist act), and Section 20 (being member of a terrorist gang or organisation) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and Section 124-A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code.

The court has sought an affidavit from Malik regarding his financial assessment and asked the NIA to file a report about it. Based on the financial assessment and the charges levelled against him, the court will decide the quantum of sentence for the convict.

However, on 18 May, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Indian Charge d'Affaires in Islamabad and submitted a demarche condemning the framing of “fabricated” charges against Yasin Malik.

Meanwhile, Pakistani-origin Liberal Democrat, Lord Qurban Hussain, raised the matter in the House of Lords. He was snubbed by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia in the UK government who stated that “since he has been charged under Indian law... we cannot intervene in the independent judicial process of India directly”.