The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has expressed its “deep concerns” over the pronouncement of a life sentence for Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik, who was given a life term by a special court designated for the National Investigation Agency on May 25.

Malik, head of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, was awarded the sentence for funding “terrorist” activities and other charges, according to a judge. The decision drew widespread condemnation from the Foreign Office and Pakistan’s leadership.

Mushaal Mullick, Yasin Malik’s wife, has demanded the unconditional release of her husband.

In a statement issued on Friday, the OIC general secretariat said that Malik has been leading a peaceful freedom struggle for many decades.

“Reiterating its solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their struggle for their rights including their right for self-determination, it urged the international community to ensure that the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiris for the realization of their rights must not be equated with terrorism,” it read.

The general secretariat called on the Indian government to release all Kashmiri leaders unfairly incarcerated, and halt forthwith the gross and systematic persecution of Kashmiris in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). It also demanded of the Modi-led government “respect the right of the people of IIOJK to determine their own future” through a free and impartial plebiscite as enshrined in the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.