+++ Happy Birthday Prof. Hany Babu
Arrested on July 28, 2020, Hany Babu is an anti-caste activist, spending his second birthday in jail for a crime he did not commit.
+++ He and his co-accused are fighting “planted evidence”, the brutal UAPA, Covid in prison conditions and the “institutional murder” of Fr. Stan Swamy.
Stand with Prof. Hany Babu.
Demand for the freedom of BK-15.
15/08/2021
The Caravan / by Diaspora Members and Friends of India in the UK
On the occasion of Indian Independence Day, a group of diaspora Indian activists in the United Kingdom dropped a banner from London’s Westminster Bridge, demanding Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resignation…
Press release issued by the group:
… The Modi regime has imprisoned thousands of people whose only ‘crime’ has been to dissent, to advocate for the most marginalised and oppressed groups, or to take part in nonviolent protests, under draconian laws like the UAPA. Elderly and vulnerable academics and lawyers, students and young activists, including thousands of Adivasi youth, are locked up in overcrowded and unhygienic conditions in the middle of a pandemic.
Read full statement
en | 10:34min | 2021
By International Coalition for Justice in India
They stood by the marginalised. They protected lands, hills and forests from mining companies. They stood up to protect minorities. They did not trust the Indian government”s false promises. They are students, academics, lawyers, journalists and social activists, in thousands, are imprisoned in over-crowded prisons. An 84-year old Jesuit priest and human rights defender, Father Stan Swamy, has passed away while waiting for trail.
Watch video
14/08/2021
The Telegraph / by Pheroze L. Vincent
A Chennai-based group is hosting a series of discussions and cultural events that will culminate in music and satire webcast on Independence Day in honour of Father Stan Swamy.
The event, titled “Kelvi Koothu” in Tamil and “Dirge for Democracy” in English, has been organised by the Vettiver Collective, a group that agitates on social and environment issues by conducting unsponsored cultural events.
Read more
14/08/2021
Counterview / by Fr Cedric Prakash SJ
The institutional murder of 84-year-old Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy, who died on July 5, 2021 while still in judicial custody, has shaken the very foundations of democracy in India. The importance and the urgency to defend democracy and all that is precious in the Constitution of India against repressive and anti-people laws, is perhaps felt today, as never before…
On August 9, the National Campaign to Defend Democracy gained added momentum when 165 movements, platforms and organisations, representing thousands of citizens, gave a call for a country wide action to save our democracy
Read more
12/08/2021
The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee
The National Campaign to Defend Democracy will take a pledge to to fight draconian laws, and uphold the right to question and show dissent
Over 160 civil society, labour and farmers’ organisations will as part of a nationwide campaign on Independence Day take a pledge to fight draconian laws, uphold the right to question and show dissent and oppose State actions that “deprive us of the freedoms of speech and opinion”.
The movement, named National Campaign to Defend Democracy and spearheaded by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (a conglomeration of human rights organisations) and trade unions, will also seek justice for Father Stan Swamy.
Read more
by Indira Jaising (Aug 13)
He’s out!
by Indira Jaising (Aug 13)
The legal team, courage and determination, Stubborn for justice
13/08/2021
The Indian Express / by Express News Service
Lawyer Surendra Gadling was released from Taloja Central Jail on Friday morning after the Bombay High Court last month allowed him temporary bail to attend rituals on his mother’s first death anniversary.
Read more
12/08/2021
Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim
Gadling’s counsel’s approached the Gadchiroli Sessions court seeking temporary bail soon after the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court disposed of his regular bail application.
Bhima Koregaon accused – Advocate Surendra Gadling – has been granted temporary bail in a 2016 case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, paving the way for his release from Taloja Prison tomorrow to perform his mother’s funeral rites. Gadling’s counsel’s approached the Gadchiroli Sessions court seeking temporary bail soon after the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court disposed of his regular bail application yesterday on the grounds that it was not maintainable.
Read more
Scroll.in / by Arun Ferreira
Although we received news by late evening on October 8, 2020, of Father Stan Swamy’s arrest, we were quite shocked to see him the next morning in the adjourning barrack conversing with inmates in his impeccable Hindi.
I was at that time lodged in a cell at the prison hospital with my co- accused Varavara Rao (or VV) and Vernon Gonsalves. It was part of our daily routine for VV and I to do a couple of rounds in his wheelchair before the morning breakfast. The three of us had assumed that the National Investigation Agency would want Stan’s custodial interrogation and hence it would not be until a couple of days before he would be sent to judicial custody i.e. Prison.
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The Guardian / by Siddhartha Deb
In 2018, Indian police claimed to have uncovered a shocking plan to bring down the government. But there is mounting evidence that the initial conspiracy was a fiction – and the accused are victims of an elaborate plot
In April 2018, a large group of policemen arrived at the Delhi flat of Rona Wilson, a 47-year-old human rights activist. They had travelled from Pune in the western state of Maharashtra, and appeared, accompanied by Delhi police officials, at Wilson’s single-room flat at 6am. For the next eight hours, they scoured the modest premises, searching the files on Wilson’s laptop and rifling through his books.
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By Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
On 11 June 2021, I wrote a letter jointly with two other UN experts on the alleged inhumane prison conditions and deteriorating condition of 15 human rights defenders, as well as Varavara Rao who was granted medical bail.
Of pressing concern was the inhumane prison conditions and deteriorating health of the human rights defenders. The death of Fr. Stan Swamy shortly after this communication was written demonstrate the severity of the conditions in which the human rights defenders are being held. It is haunting to now read how Fr. Swamy’s requests to be transferred to hospital to receive treatment were initially denied repeatedly.
Read more
12/08/2021
Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim
Gadling’s counsel’s approached the Gadchiroli Sessions court seeking temporary bail soon after the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court disposed of his regular bail application.
Bhima Koregaon accused – Advocate Surendra Gadling – has been granted temporary bail in a 2016 case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, paving the way for his release from Taloja Prison tomorrow to perform his mother’s funeral rites. Gadling’s counsel’s approached the Gadchiroli Sessions court seeking temporary bail soon after the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court disposed of his regular bail application yesterday on the grounds that it was not maintainable.
Read more
12/08/2021
Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi
The Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court refused bail to Gadling in a case registered by the Gadchiroli police in 2016 under UAPA.
The Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court refused bail to lawyer and activist Surendra Gadling in a case registered by the Gadchiroli police in 2016 under offences of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code (Surendra Gadling v. State of Maharashtra)
Gadling is also an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018 which is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
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By PEN International
As PEN Centres we wish to highlight the case of renowned Indian poet, Varavara Rao, to all those who care about the defense of freedom of expression for writers. We call for all charges to be dropped against Rao, and hope that you will join our campaign to ensure his freedom.
Varavara Rao is an 82-year-old poet and activist who was arrested in 2018 along with several other activists in India on charges of inciting violence under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
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hindi │ 1h 17min │2021
08/08/2021
By family and friends of Mahesh
Our friend Mahesh, is spending his fourth year in jail. Without trial! Who is Mahesh though? Why is his story important? And why is he a threat to the powers that are?
Join us for an evening where we will discuss all this and more. Friends, family, colleagues and journalists will talk about Mahesh and why he is still in jail.
We will also be launching a website which documents much of Mahesh’s story through this event.
We miss our friend and we really hope we will see #JusticeForMahesh very soon!
Watch video
Twitter: @justice4mahesh
