Four days after a special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) convicted the chairman of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Yasin Malik, in a terror funding case, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday supported the terrorist who himself pleaded guilty in the same case.

"World should take note of Indian govt's mistreatment of political prisoners in IIOJK. The conviction of prominent Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik on fake terrorism charges is a futile effort 2 silence voices critical of India's blatant human rights abuses. Modi regime must be held to account", Pakistan Prime Minister tweeted from his official Twitter handle.

Shehbaz Sharif
Shehbaz Sharifreuters

He said Pakistan rejected the Indian failed tactics against Yasin Malik. He urged the international community including the United Nations and the Human Rights Council to take note of India's "extra-judicial measures"

He said the government of Pakistan would highlight India's actions against Yasin Malik and other Kashmiri leadership at all international forums including the human rights bodies and the forum of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Earlier Pakistan's foreign ministry has condemned the conviction of Yasin Malik

"Hurriyat leader Yasin Malik has been convicted in a manifestly dubious and motivated case, dating back to 2017, filed against him by the National Investigation Agency," a spokesman of Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Thursday.

"Predictably, the one-sided case has not only convicted Yasin Malik on fictitious charges in defiance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights but also attempted to make conjectural insinuations about Pakistan," it added.

Malik pleads guilty in the same case

On May 10, Yasin Malik himself pleaded guilty before the NIA court in the same terror funding case. Malik may get a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

NIA court convicts Yasin Malik in terror funding case; finds guilty under UAPA

Accused in a 2017 terror-funding case probed by the NIA, Yasin Malik pleaded guilty to all charges against him before a special NIA court in Delhi. He has been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for committing a terrorist act, raising funds for terrorism, being a member of a terrorist group and part of a criminal conspiracy, and for sedition.

On May 19, a special National Investigating Agency Court convicted Yasin Malik in a terror funding case.

The special NIA court found Malik, already lodged in Tihar jail, guilty of charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The hearing on the quantum of the sentence will take place on May 25. The NIA will have to assess Malik's financial situation for the same. The Court also directed Malik to furnish an affidavit regarding his financial assets by the next date of hearing.