Several media organizations have issued a joint statement over the detention of Kashmiri journalist, Fahad Shah, who was arrested on February 04, 2022.
A full year has passed since Fahad Shah, editor of The Kashmir Walla newspaper and an internationally respected reporter with whom we have worked, was arrested on Feb. 4, 2022, in Kashmir for publishing “anti-national content,” the joint statement read.
“The Kashmir Walla, which Mr. Shah founded, elevates the voices of everyday people and stands fast against unjust laws with honest reporting. But Mr. Shah has paid a heavy price for that work. He has been granted bail repeatedly, only to be immediately rearrested,” the statement read.
He continues to be held in a jail in Jammu, far from family and friends, under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. He is facing life imprisonment if convicted, read the statement. “Mr. Shah’s case is a sharp reminder of the need to strengthen free voices as efforts to shut them down intensify daily around the globe. His release is particularly important to the cause of free press in Kashmir,” they said.
The statement has been jointly issued by Mark Sappenfield, Editor of The Christian Science Monitor, Ravi Agrawal, Editor-in-Chief of the Foreign Policy, Erica Berenstein, Executive Producer of News and Documentary of Insider, Dave Besseling, Longreads Editor of South China Morning Post, D. D. Guttenplan, Editor of The Nation, Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, Editor of Foreign Affairs, Boyoung Lim, Senior Editor of Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and Katharine Viner, Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian.