After being held in jail for close to four years awaiting trial on charges of aiding militants, Kashmiri journalist Aasif Sultan was granted bail by the courts last week, and he thought he could finally return home to his wife and his daughter, who was just 6 months old when he was arrested.
But Indian authorities did not let him go, levying similar charges under a different law, and have since moved him to a different jail.
Sultan’s case is the latest instance, rights activists say, in which Indian authorities have weaponized the legal system to limit free speech and harass journalists, particularly those in the Indian-controlled portion of the disputed Kashmir region. Some have been arrested under laws that allow people to be held for extended periods without trial and that make bail terms extremely difficult and sometimes impossible.