An Indian court has charged Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a hardline Kashmiri separatist leader, with sedition and ordered him into police custody five years after an arrest warrant was issued. A warrant for Geelani's arrest was issued in Poonch in 2001 on charges of inciting people against India during a series of speeches.
Police said 77-year-old Geelani, head of a breakaway faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an alliance of separatist parties, was arrested on Wednesday on arriving in Poonch, a town 144 kilometres northwest of Jammu. "Soon after he checked in Hotel Star in Poonch town, our police party immediately took him into custody," a senior police official, told Reuters. A local magistrate ordered Geelani, who says he requires constant medical attention due to heart problems, into police custody until June 29. Geelani's supporters staged protests in Srinagar on Thursday, and his party called for a strike on Friday. |