Asha – Page 108 – free them all

Indian anti-terror law snags more than terrorists / 4,690 UAPA arrests; 3.1% convictions

22/12/2021 Asha

Indian anti-terror law snags more than terrorists

22/12/2021

Yahoo News / by Sarita Santoshini

Pendyala Pavana is no stranger to the world of social activism and government repression. Ever since she was a child she has seen her father, a revolutionary poet and activist, subjected to repeated criminal charges, accused of everything under the sun, including murder.
Twenty-four times he has been charged; 24 times he has been found not guilty. Still, Ms. Pavana is shocked by the way her father, Varavara Rao, is being treated in his latest ordeal. “It’s quite against natural justice, and his rights are completely denied,” she says.
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4,690 UAPA arrests between 2018-21; only 3.1% convictions

22/12/2021

The Federal / by The Federal

Authorities arrested 4,690 people across India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) between 2018 and 2021, but only 149 detainees have so far been convicted, according to figures provided by the government.
That means only 3.1 per cent of the arrests under the draconian law in the past three years have ended in convictions.
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Poet-activist Varavara Rao’s medical bail extended till Jan 7, Bombay HC grants time to file affidavit

21/12/2021 Asha

Poet-activist Varavara Rao’s medical bail extended till Jan 7, Bombay HC grants time to file affidavit

21/12/2021

The Leaflet / by the Leaflet

Monday, December 20, the Bombay High Court allowed time to continue to examine Bhima Koregaon/Elgar Parishad case accused Dr. P.V. Varavara Rao’s request seeking extension of his medical bail. Rao, who was granted bail for six months on February 22, 2021, got an extension till January 7, 2022 and his counsel was allowed to file the affidavit by December 28.
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Poet Varavara Rao’s medical bail extended till January 7

20/12/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The Bombay High Court allowed him to file an affidavit against a private hospital report suggesting that his health condition was ‘cognitively normal’.
The Bombay High Court on Monday extended the medical bail of poet Varavara Rao till January 7 in the Bhima Koregaon case, Live Law reported. At a previous hearing, the High Court had extended his bail till Monday.
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Bombay HC Extends Varavara Rao’s Time To Surrender Till Jan 7, Permits Him To Respond To Medical Reports

20/12/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Bombay High Court on Monday extended Telugu poet Varavara Rao’s time to surrender before prison authorities till January 7, while posting his application for extension of medical bail for further consideration on January 4.
A division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sarang Kotwal also permitted Rao’s counsels to file an affidavit and respond to a private hospital’s reports concluding that his condition was normal as “he is able to perform activities of daily living.”
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Bombay HC allows Varavara Rao to file affidavit after hospital declares his parameters’ normal

20/12/2021

Times of India / by Swati Deshpande

The Bombay high court on Monday allowed Elgar Parishad accused P Varavara Rao, 82, to file an additional affidavit response to a report submitted by Nanavati hospital for its analysis in his plea for extension of his medical bail. The private charitable hospital had last week submitted a report to say that Rao’s vital parameters were normal.
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Organisers undecided on third edition of Elgar Parishad / Bhim Army chief to address rally on 1 Jan

20/12/2021 Asha

Organisers undecided on third edition of Elgar Parishad

20/12/2021

The Hindu / by Nadeem Inamdar

The Elgar Parishad organisers are undecided about holding another edition of the conclave, for them getting bail for artistes is top priority.
The Elgar Parishad organisers are undecided about holding another edition of the conclave, for them getting bail for artistes is top priority. The second edition of the Elgar Parishad was held at GaneshKala Krida manch on Jan 1, last year wherein academics, activists and writers from dalit, muslim and other social organisations addressed the thinly attended event.
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Anniversary of Bhima Koregaon; Bhim Army chief to address rally on 1 Jan

20/12/2021

Maktoobmedia / by Maktoob Staff

Azad Samaj Party has announced that its chief and Bhim Army supremo Chandrashekhar Azad will be visiting the ‘Jaystambh’ in Pune on January 1 to mark the anniversary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon.
“This is the 200th year of the erection of Jaystambh. On this occasion, our party chief Chandrashekhar Azad and state president Rahul Pradhan would be visiting the Jaystambh on January 1,” Abhijit Gaikwad, Pune unit president of Azad Samaj Party said.
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“Allegations Followed Him To His Grave”: Plea In Bombay HC Seeks To Clear Father Stan Swamy’s Name

18/12/2021 Asha

Judicial enquiry sought to clear Stan Swamy name

18/12/2021

The Times of India / by TOI

Five months after the death of Jesuit priest and Elgar Parishad case accused Father Stan Swamy in hospital while in in judicial custody, Fr Frazer Mascarenhas, as his ‘next of kin’ has petitioned the Bombay high court for a judicial enquiry into the death in custody and to remove the ‘odium of guilty’ attached to the deceased tribal rights activist and the shadow it “casts” on the Jesuits in India.
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“Allegations Followed Him To His Grave”: Plea In Bombay High Court Seeks To Clear Father Stan Swamy’s Name

17/12/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

Father Frazer Mascarenhas, former principal of St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, has approached the Bombay High Court to clear Father Stan Swamy’s name in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case. He has also sought for a court-monitored judicial inquiry into his custodial death.
Fr Stan founded Bagaicha, an organisation dedicated to empowering the Adivasi and Moolvasi communities in Jharkhand. He passed away on July 5, nine months after his arrest.
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Varavara Rao Medically Stable, Must Surrender: NIA Tells Bombay HC; Medical Report Summoned

17/12/2021 Asha

Varavara Rao Medically Stable, Must Surrender: NIA Tells Bombay High Court; Complete Medical Report Summoned

17/12/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The National Investigating Agency (NIA) on Friday urged the Bombay High Court to direct Telugu poet accused in Bhima Koregaon case, Varavara Rao (82), to surrender before the prison officials after a private hospital opined he is “cognitively normal.”
However, a division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sarang Kotwal directed the private hospital to submit Rao’s complete medical examination reports and listed the matter for further consideration, on Monday.
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Varavara Rao health normal, says medical report submitted by NIA to Bombay HC

17/12/2021

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

The National Investigation Agency on Friday submitted to the Bombay High Court a summary report of the medical examination of Bhima Koregaon-accused Varavara Rao, in his plea seeking extension of medical bail granted to him by the High Court on April 2021.
The summary stated that Rao was evaluated by multiple consultants and was suffering from minor symptoms like lack of sleep and exhaustion.
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PUCL: Arsenal Report No. 4 Confirms Pegasus Attack on IPhone of Rona Wilson, Key BK Accused

17/12/2021 Asha

Countercurrents / by People’s Union For Civil Liberties (PUCL)

In a detailed report released today, 17th December, 2021, Arsenal Consulting, the Boston-based forensic investigation firm assisting the defense lawyers in the Bhima Koregaon (BK) case, and Amnesty Tech Security Lab, have confirmed that the iPhone of one of the key accused, Mr. Rona Wilson, was attacked multiple times by the Pegasus spyware. This has been simultaneously reported in the Washington Post and The Wire…
The publication of this report raises three extremely critical and troubling questions:
Read full statement

Also read:
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)

Rona Wilson’s iPhone Infected With Pegasus Spyware, Says New Forensic Report

17/12/2021 Asha

Rona Wilson’s iPhone Infected With Pegasus Spyware, Says New Forensic Report

17/12/2021

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Arsenal Consulting was engaged by Wilson’s defence lawyers to study the electronic evidence submitted against him in the Elgar Parishad case.
Rona Wilson, a prisoners’ rights activist and academic based in Delhi, was a victim of both surveillance and incriminating document delivery for close to a year before his arrest on June 6, 2018, according to a new digital forensics report.
Wilson, originally from Kerala and who continued with his social activism work in Delhi, was one of the first persons to be arrested in the Elgar Parishad case.
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Phone of Indian activist jailed on terrorism charges was infected with Pegasus spyware, new analysis finds

17/12/2021

The Washington Post / by Niha Masih

A smartphone belonging to jailed Indian activist Rona Wilson was infiltrated using NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware before his arrest, according to a new forensic analysis by Amnesty International’s Security Lab that reignites questions about the use of malware attacks against dissidents and government critics in India.
The analysis by Amnesty showed that two backups of an iPhone 6s belonging to Wilson, who has been in jail on terrorism charges since June 2018, had digital traces showing infection by the Pegasus surveillance tool, which its developer, the Israeli cybersecurity firm NSO Group, has said has been licensed only to government agencies.
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Pegasus spyware ‘found on phone of jailed critic of Narendra Modi’

17/12/2021

The Guardian / by Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Michael Safi

Analysis of Rona Wilson’s phone found evidence it was infected with NSO Group spyware three months before arrest
The Indian government’s case against Rona Wilson, a jailed Indian activist and critic of Narendra Modi’s administration, is expected to face new scrutiny following allegations that his mobile phone was hacked using Israeli-made spyware just months before his controversial arrest.
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Also read:
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)
● They were accused of plotting to overthrow the Modi government. The evidence was planted, a new report says (Washington Post / Feb 2021)
● Prison-rights activist Rona Wilson’s hard disk contained malware that allowed remote access (The Caravan / March 2020)

Bhima Koregaon: The Mystery of Fadnavis’ Terms of Reference

15/12/2021 Asha

Rediff.com / by Jyoti Punwani

No report of the violence was sent by Mumbai’s police commissioner to the government.
Why was the violence then considered serious enough to be included in the Terms of Reference? Was it a balancing act to counter the accusations that were then being made against Hindutva leaders Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote?
Jyoti Punwani reports from the Bhima Koregaon Commission hearing.
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Also read:
● India’s Hindu Nationalist Project Relies on Brutal Repression (Jacobinmag / April 2021)
● Casting a Veil – What we miss by ignoring Maratha caste politics in the Bhima Koregaon case (The Caravan / Dec 2020)
● Let’s Remember the Lesson of Bhima Koregaon: Down with the New Peshwai (Sanhati / March 2018)

Civil society renews demand for repeal of UAPA, AFSPA and Sedition Law

14/12/2021 Asha

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Civil society renews demand for repeal of UAPA, AFSPA and Sedition Law

14/12/2021

Kashmir Media Service / by KMS

Prominent civil society groups and activists as well as lawyers held a public meeting at the Press Club of India and demanded repeal of black laws like Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, sedition law, and Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
The speakers explained various aspects of the black laws, their history of use by various governments in India to try to silence the voices of the people, and said in one voice that in a democracy there was no place for such laws. Those who addressed the meeting included M K Venu of The Wire, Vikas Bajpai, Ish Mishra and A Dubey of Janhastakshep, civil rights activist Sanjay Parikh and lawyer and civil rights activist N D Pancholi.
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Bail to Sudha Bharadwaj: Civil rights groups demand release of all BK case accused

14/12/2021

Counterview / by Counterview

Civil rights groups, even as welcoming the Supreme Court order granting default bail to Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, have demanded that release of all human rights defenders arrested in the Bhima Koregaon (BK) case.
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) said the “short order of the Supreme Court” on December 7 dismissing the Special Leave Petition (SLP) of the National Investigation Agency (NIA)” is a “vindication of the long campaign against the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) by the PUCL and other allied groups.
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Read full statement: PUCL Welcomes Bail for Sudha Bharadwaj

Over 50% of those arrested under UAPA were under 30, Centre tells Parliament

15/12/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The government said it was not considering any amendments to the anti-terror law, which critics say is being increasingly used to stifle dissent.
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Mama Teltumbde and her children

13/12/2021 Asha

Midday / by Ajaz Ashraf

At the cremation of her sixth child, Anusaya Teltumbde did not get to meet her eldest son Anand, who languishes in jail. As one of India’s top intellectuals, is he undeserving of even 14-day bail?
The meaning of mercy often shines in its absence, as this story of 92-year-old Anusaya Teltumbde bears out. Born in and then married into an agriculture labour family, Anusaya gave birth to eight children. The youngest of them, Praveen, a professor, died in 2009; her sixth child, Milind, a Maoist commander, was gunned down last month. At his cremation were present Mama Teltumbde and her surviving children barring the eldest of them, Anand.
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