Kashmir court orders release of separatist Masrat Alam

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Tuesday ordered the release of separatist leader Masrat Alam, who has been in jail for the last six years on charges of fomenting trouble and posing a threat to public safety in the state.

Alam, languishing in a jail in Kathua near Jammu, was booked under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) following the 2010 deadly unrest that left over 100 people dead in the Kashmir Valley.

Alam was accused of having orchestrated violent anti-India protests in the valley after the Indian Army killed three civilians in an alleged fake shootout near the de facto border with Pakistan.

Justice Muzafar Hussain Attar quashed the PSA detention order of Alam.

The judgement, reserved by the court last week, ordered the immediate release of Alam who is the chairman of the Muslim League -- a constituent of the Syed Ali Shah Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference.

Under the PSA a person can be detained for two years by the order of a district magistrate without any judicial intervention.

--IANS

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