Yasin Malik (file photo)
New Delhi: Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik on Tuesday pleaded guilty to all the charges, including those under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), before a Delhi court. The case is related to alleged terrorism and secessionist activities that disturbed the Valley in 2017.
As per reports, Malik did not have a lawyer in this case.
The amicus curiae appointed by the court has confirmed that the accused was not contesting the charges levelled against him.
The charges include under UAPA Sections 16 (terrorist act), 17 (raising funds for the terrorist act), 18 (conspiracy to commit terrorist act), and 20 (being a member of a terrorist gang or organisation) and Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 124-A (sedition) of IPC.
Special Judge Praveen Singh will hear on May 19 the arguments regarding the quantum of sentence for offences levelled against Malik, in which the maximum punishment is life imprisonment. A detailed order in the matter is awaited.
Meanwhile, the court has formally framed charges against other Kashmiri separatist leaders, including Farooq Ahmed Dar; 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.
While framing charges in the matter in March, the court had said that prima facie, it is established that Shabir Shah, Yasin Malik, Rashid Engineer, Altaf Fantoosh, Masrat and Hurriyat/Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) were direct recipients of terror funds.
The court also noted that prima facie there existed a criminal conspiracy pursuant to which large-scale protests, resulting in violence and arson at a massive scale, were orchestrated.
The court said Malik had set up an elaborate structure and mechanism across the world to raise funds for carrying out terrorist and other unlawful activities in Jammu and Kashmir in the name of "freedom struggle".