The Wire / by Seemi Pasha
How can a person who was found in possession of illegal arms during a riot be granted bail in a riots case when others from whom nothing was recovered are still behind bars?
New Delhi: Consider the case of two people arrested by the Delhi Police in connection with the Delhi riots of February 2020.
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Shoma Sen & Sudha Bharadwaj are in Byculla jail where an inmate has been tested positive for #COVID19. The Indian Government must stop punishing them for speaking truth to power and release them immediately.
By Amnesty International UK
Eleven prominent activists are locked up in India after false accusations by the government.
The Bhima Koregaon 11 (BK11) have fought bravely for the rights of the poorest and most marginalised communities in the country. Far from being anti-national, the ‘Bhima Koregaon 11’ are for many, national heroes.
They should be celebrated, not treated like criminals. Email India’s Home Minister demanding their immediate release.
Send instant e-mail here
The Wire / by The Wire Staff
Civil liberties activist Vernon Gonsalves is lodged at Taloja jail along with others arrested in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case.
Mumbai: In a strange turn of events, two policemen from Mumbai’s crime branch landed at civil rights activist and lawyer Susan Abraham’s residence in Andheri asking the whereabouts of her husband Vernon Gonsalves, who has been in jail since 2018. Gonsalves, who was arrested in August 2018 for his alleged involvement in the Elgar Parishad case, is currently lodged at Taloja central prison located in Thane district.
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The Indian Express / by Express News Service
“My son Sagar and I were shocked and disturbed at this uncalled for visit at a time when the risk of transmission of Covid-19 between police (frontline workers) and community members is very high,” the letter states.
Activist Vernon Gonsalves’ wife, advocate Susan Abraham, has written to the Mumbai Police commissioner and Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court stating that while her husband is lodged in Taloja jail in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case, police officers from the crime branch visited their home, making inquiries about his whereabouts. Gonsalves has been behind bars since August 2018.
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en | 3:06 min | 2020
Leaders of CPIML, CPI(M), CPI, AIFB, RSP, RJD, LJD and VCK have written a Joint Opposition Memorandum to the President of India demanding an end to the ongoing witch-hunt and release of all political prisoners in view of their enhanced health risk and to wage a united fight against Covid19.
Watch video
11 May 2020
Release all political prisoners-
Dissenting Voices
Activists of Peoples Movements
and Opposition leaders
End Overcrowding in India’s Jails
Read full statement below
The Hindu / by Gautam S. Mengle and Sonam Saigal
One positive at Byculla women’s jail.
As many as 81 more inmates at the Arthur Road Central Jail tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, taking the number of cases among prisoners lodged there to 158. A prisoner at the women’s prison in Byculla has also tested positive.
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09/04/2020
Mumbai Mirror / by Somendra Sharma and David Delima
… Families of prisoners and undertrials in jails across the city made frantic calls to their lawyers on Friday morning, after hearing the news that 103 people lodged at Arthur Road jail had tested positive for Covid-19 …
“I have not spoken to my father properly since February, when I last saw him in court. I don’t know if he is safe as there as been zero communication from the authorities. We have no way of getting in touch with any official,” said Sagar Gonsalves, son of incarcerated activist Vernon Gonsalves.
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07/04/2020
The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha
The Maharashtra home department had promised to release over 11,000 prisoners but so far fewer than 7,000 have been released as the health crisis rages.
Mumbai: The delay in the process of decongesting Maharashtra’s prisons has already led to the first major outbreak of COVID-19 in Mumbai’s Arthur Road central prison.
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The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha
With a woman inmate testing positive for coronavirus at Byculla prison, a look at the rise in cases in Maharashtra’s overcrowded state prisons.
Mumbai: Contrary to the claims made by the Maharashtra home and prisons department that utmost care has been taken to save prisons from COVID-19 outbreak, cases of infection have been on the rise in state prisons.
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Indiatoday / by Saurabh Vaktania
A woman has tested positive for novel coronavirus in Byculla women’s jail in Mumbai. The patient, a 54-year-old inmate, tested positive on Saturday.
A 54-year-old inmate of the Byculla women’s jail tested positive for novel coronavirus, officials said on Sunday. The new case of coronavirus from the central Mumbai jail comes two days after a doctor attached to it tested positive for Covid-19.
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Hindustan Times / by Charul Shah
The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Friday extended judicial custody of activist Dr Anand Teltumbde, who was arrested in connection with Elgar Parishad case, till May 22. The court has also asked the prison authorities to submit a report on the medical treatment given to him by May 15.
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hindi, en | 1:41:48 | 2020
This panel, featuring Susan Abraham, Prabodhan Pol, Mihir Desai and Nihalsing Rathod, takes a closer look at the arrests of and cases against the 11 activists detained after Bhima Koregaon, and places the events within the context of caste, community and Maharashtra political dynamics. This is part 1 of a two-part series on UAPA and state suppression of dissent.
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Newsclick / by Newsclick Report
The statement mentions the arrests of journalists Masrat Zahra and Peerzada Ashiq, student activists Safoora Zargar, Meeran Haider and Sharjeel Imam, civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha, Dalit Marxist scholar Anand Teltumbde, amongst others.
The Indian diaspora in the United Kingdom have released a statement condemning the Modi Government’s continuous attack against students, activists, journalists and all other dissenters of the government even as India reels under a ruthless lockdown to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.
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The Quint / by Sushovan Sircar
Israeli cyberweapons company, NSO Group, whose Pegasus spyware was used to hack into the phones of at least 121 Indian citizens in 2019, has told a California court that the attacks were carried out by its government clients.
Pegasus, a spyware built by the NSO Group, was found to have infiltrated the phones of 1,400 individuals globally, including human rights activists, lawyers and activists in India.
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