NEW DELHI: The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Kashmiri journalist Sajad Gul on bail—after more than two years of arbitrary detention on multiple charges — and calls on authorities in the Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir to immediately end all prosecution against him.

“The release of Kashmiri journalist Sajad Gul on bail is long overdue,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi on Tuesday. “The collapse of press freedom in Kashmir in recent years is stark. With elections over, the newly elected local government must immediately free other Kashmiri journalists behind bars and allow the media to report freely without fear of reprisal.”