May 25,:A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court is set to pronounce at 3:30 pm today its verdict on the quantum of punishment for convicted Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, who had earlier pleaded guilty of all the charges including those under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), in a terror funding case.

Special judge Praveen Singh had on May 19 convicted Malik and had directed NIA authorities to assess his financial situation to determine the amount of fine likely to be imposed.

Malik is facing a maximum punishment of death penalty, while the minimum sentence for the offences committed by him is life imprisonment.

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On May 11, Malik had pleaded guilty to all the charges, including those under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), in the case related to alleged militancy and secessionist activities that disturbed the Valley in 2017.

Malik told the court that he was not contesting the charges levelled against him including section 16 (militant act), 17 (raising funds for the militant act), 18 (conspiracy to commit militant act), and 20 (being member of militant gang or organisation) of the UAPA and sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 124-A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code.

According to the NIA, various militant organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Jammu, and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), etc., with the support of ISI of Pakistan, perpetrated violence in the valley by attacking civilians and security forces.

It was further alleged that in 1993, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) was formed to give a political front to secessionist activities.

The NIA charge sheet submitted before the court that the central government received credible information that Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Amir of Jammat-ud-Dawah, and the secessionist and separatist leaders including the members of the Hurriyat Conference have been acting in connivance with active militants of proscribed militant organizations like HM, LeT, etc. for raising, receiving and collecting funds domestically and abroad through various illegal channels including hawala.

The NIA also alleged that this was done for funding separatist and terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir and as such, they have entered into a larger conspiracy for causing disruption in the valley by way of pelting stones on security forces, systematically burning schools, damage to public property and waging war against India.