Irfan Mehraj

Gender: Male

Perpetrator: India

Religion or Belief: Muslim – Unspecified/Other

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Date of Detainment: March/20/2023

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment

Reason for Persecution: Human Rights Work for Religious Communities Reporting on Religious Freedom Conditions or Documenting Religious Freedom Violations

Nature of Charges: Criminal Premeditation & Conspiracy Illicit Financing Terrorism Threat Treason & Sedition

Irfan Mehraj

Extra Bio Info:

Irfan Mehraj is detained for religious freedom advocacy.

In March 2023, National Investigation Agency authorities arrested Mehraj, a human rights activist and journalist known for his reporting on marginalized religious communities. The NIA accused him of working at the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, a human rights organization that documents human rights violations committed by authorities in Kashmir, a Muslim-majority area. The NIA has accused JKCCS of funding terrorist activities and arrested its leader, human rights defender Khurram Parvez, in the same case.

Authorities charged him with conspiracy, sedition, raising funds for terrorist acts, conspiracy, threatening a witness by a company, associating with a terrorist organization, supporting a terrorist organization, and raising funds for a terrorist organization (Secs. 120B, 124A IPC; Secs. 17, 18, 22A, 22C, 38, 39, 40 UAPA).

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