Maya – Page 12 – free them all

Calls for Indian Jesuit’s freedom fill Rights Day

13/12/2020 Maya

UCA / by Saji Thomas

A demand to release an elderly Jesuit priest and 15 other activists was prominent among calls made at programs marking international Human Rights Day in many parts of India.
Several rights groups joined with citizens to organize demonstrations, webinars and marches across the country on Dec 10, expressing their concern over what they said was a governmental attempt to throttle dissenting voices against its policies and programs.
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Stand with Fr Stan Swamy / Solidarity Campaigns (pics)

12/12/2020 Maya

By Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha / @JharkhandJanad1 (Dec 12):
Rajesh Kachhap, @INCJharkhand MLA says that Stan Swamy’s arrest is an attack on freedom of expression by the dictatorial central govt. He demands Stan’s release and appeals to @HemantSorenJMM govt to write to the centre.

Silent protest launches campaign calling for release of Father Stan Swamy

10/12/2020

CSW / by CWS

A protest has been held today, International Human Rights Day, outside the High Commission of India in London, organised by the UK-based Jesuit Missions, to mark the launch of an international campaign calling for the immediate and unconditional release from prison of Father Stan Swamy.
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Stand with Father Stan

10/12/2020

By Jesuit Mission UK

This Human Rights Day falls on the 10 December, and Jesuit Missions is inviting you to take action to help free Fr Stan Swamy SJ from prison.
What you can do
We want to raise awareness about what has happened to Fr Stan Swamy. This can be done in two ways.
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Postcard campaign

10/12/2020

Click to enlarge

Who will Defend the Human Rights’ Defenders? Release Political Prisoners, Repeal UAPA

09/12/2020

Right to Food and Work Campaign, West Bengal

National Level Postcard Campaign Takes Off on Human Rights Day On 10th December, 2020, International Human Rights Day, a nation-wide post card campaign asking the Prime Minister to repeal the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and to release all prisoners who have been incarcerated under this Act, is being inaugurated.

Read full statement / Click to enlarge

Why were Activists Like Anand Teltumbde Who Work For the Disadvantaged Jailed?

10/12/2020 Maya

The Leaflet / by Niharika Ravi

The Human Rights Watch has called the detention by the Indian government of civil rights and Dalit rights activist, Anand Teltumbde as “wrongful” and “politically motivated”.
“Indian authorities are using draconian counterterrorism laws against activists simply for criticizing the government or raising their voices against injustice. The authorities should immediately release Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha and the other activists wrongfully detained in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of the Human Rights Watch.
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After jail refuses to give Gautam Navlakha his glasses, Maharashtra orders inquiry

10/12/2020 Maya

After jail refuses to give activist Gautam Navlakha his glasses, Maharashtra orders inquiry

10/12/2020

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said the that the situation should have been handled humanly.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Thursday ordered an inquiry into Taloja Jail authorities’ refusal to accept a package containing activist Gautam Navlakha’s spectacles. The 70-year-old civil rights campaigner is an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
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Taloja Jail to Gautam Navlakha’s partner Sahba Husain: Resend glasses, we will accept it this time

08/12/2020

Free Press Journal / by Bhavna Uchil & Narsi Benwal

Authorities at the Taloja jail have asked civil liberties activist Gautam Navlakha’s partner Sahba Husain to resend the new pair of spectacles she had sent for him, which they had refused to accept earlier, assuring her they would accept it this time.
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After Stan Swamy struggled for his sipper, jailed Gautam Navlakha can’t get his spectacles

07/12/2020

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Navlakha’s partner said he ‘is close to blind without his glasses’, but jail authorities have refused to accept a parcel containing new spectacles.
The Taloja Jail authorities in Mumbai have refused to accept a parcel containing the spectacles of civil rights campaigner Gautam Navlakha, his partner Sabha Hussain said in a statement shared on Monday.
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Taloja Jail Authorities Deny Newly Made Spectacles to Gautam Navlakha

07/12/2020

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Navlakha was arrested in April for his alleged connection with the Bhima Koregaon case.
Gautam Navlakha, nearly 70, patient of several ailments, had his spectacles stolen on November 27. Close to blind without his glasses, he was not even permitted to call his home for a replacement until three days later, but even that call proved futile.
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Law is No Longer About Justice But is Reimagined as a Tool of Terror and Harassment

04/12/2020 Maya

The Leaflet / by Shiv Visvanathan

Each citizen, as Havel once said about totalitarianism, must become iconic of protest from body language to symbolism. When indifference and prejudice becomes a monstrosity of legal indifference, civil society must reinvent democracy as a new politics of caring, says Shiv Visvanathan.
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Remember detained human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj – secure her immediate release

30/11/2020 Maya

Tweets by American Bar Association – ABA Justice Defenders Program

#India: During the #16DaysOfActivism, we remember detained human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj. We urge authorities to secure her immediate release in the absence of clear evidence of criminal conduct. @NIA_India #FreeSudha #FreeBhimaKoregaon #16days #OrangeTheWorld
The @chr_aba report found that Ms. Bharadwaj has been subject to numerous fair trial violations, including prejudicial public statements by the police and lack of independent public witnesses. @UN_SPExperts @UNIndepJudges

Also read: The Preliminary Fair Trial Report: Bhima Koregaon (Oct 2019)

CIVICUS: This #16Days we continue the call for #India to free #WHRD Sudha Bharadwaj, an activist and human rights lawyer who has spent over 2 years in detention.

From sippers and sweaters to mail and mulaqats, how prisoners are being kept waiting for basics

29/11/2020 Maya

From sippers and sweaters to mail and mulaqats, how prisoners are being kept waiting for basics

29/11/2020

Times of India / Himanshi Dhawan

Letters from wife? Rejected. Sipper for Parkinson’s patient? Court hearing awaited. Warm clothes to deal with the capital’s chilly temperatures? Allowed but after a long wait.
Many a political prisoner in Maharashtra and Delhi has been struggling for access to basic necessities these last few month.
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Stan Swamy gets a sipper, finally

29/11/2020

Mumbai Mirror / by Shruti Ganapatye

The ‘inhumane’ treatment meted out to the 83-year-old Parkinson’s patient by the NIA and Taloja jail authorities had drawn a lot of flak from citizens.
Almost 50 days after his arrest, 83-year-old tribal rights activist Stan Swamy , who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, was provided a sipper by the Taloja Jail authorities.
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Not likely to jump bail, arrest malafide: Father Stan Swamy moves Special NIA Court for bail

27/11/2020 Maya

Not likely to jump bail, arrest malafide: Father Stan Swamy moves Special NIA Court for bail

27/11/2020

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

“… he was not arrested during the long investigation lasting more than 2 years itself shows that he was never seen as a flight risk or someone who would tamper with evidence”, reads the application.
83-year-old tribal rights activist and Jesuit priest, Father Stan Swamy has filed a bail application before the Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai seeking release on bail from Taloja Central Jail where he has been lodged for his alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon case.
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Father Stan Swamy files plea for woollens, sipper, straw

27/11/2020

Hindustan Times / by Charul Shah

Tribal rights activist and priest Father Stan Swamy filed a fresh application on Thursday, requesting winter wear, a sipper cup and straw after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) informed the special court it had not confiscated Swamy’s straw and sipper cup. The matter, along with Swamy’s bail plea, will be heard next in December.
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We Don’t Have Father Stan Swamy’s Sipper & Straw With Us, Says NIA

26/11/2020

Live Law / by Nitish Kashyap

A Special NIA Court in Mumbai directed the concerned medical officer in Taloja jail to reply to the requirement of a straw and sipper filed by 83-year-old Father Stan Swamy, who suffers from Parkinson’s Disease after the National Investigation Agency expressed its inability to provide a straw and sipper for the Jesuit priest accused in the cast based violence at Bhima Koregaon.
Finally, Court directed the medical officer to reply to the requirement of straw and sipper along with winter clothes. The matter will now be heard on December 4.
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Wait for straw, sipper gets longer for Stan Swamy, who has Parkinson’s disease & is in jail

26/11/2020

The Print / by Apoorva Mandhani

Stan Swamy, in jail in connection with Bhima Koregaon violence, files fresh application seeking a straw and sipper after NIA denies seizing it. Matter will be heard on 4 December.
Stan Swamy, the 83-year-old Jharkhand-based Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) last month in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence, will have to wait till December at least to get a straw and sipper cup which he needs as a Parkinson’s disease patient, as well as winter clothes.
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Court pulls up prison authorities for not responding to activist Anand Teltumbde’s plea

27/11/2020 Maya

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

A special National Investigation Agency court pulled up authorities of Taloja prison and the Mumbai Central Jail for delaying reports related to activist Anand Teltumbde, who is an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, reported The Times of India.
The court made the remark after Teltumbde submitted that there had been no reply to a petition he submitted in August. Teltumbde had on August 28 approached the court with an application to get home-cooked food, and highlighted his health-related problems.
Following this, the court had instructed the Taloja Jail superintendent to submit a report and take him for medical tests. The prison officials were asked to submit a response by September 4, but the authorities have still not filed it.
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Statements by family members of Varavara Rao after meeting him at Nanavati Hospital

22/11/2020 Maya

May 2020

Mid-day / Chetna Sadadekar

After a wait of four months, the family of Varavara Rao finally got to meet him at Nanavati Hospital. Rao’s wife and elder daughter met him on Friday and Saturday. While he is being treated for a urinary tract infection, his family said that he has contracted a fungal infection on his feet and knees. However, the family is unaware of the tests that have been conducted and the reports of the same as the hospital authorities told them that reports have to be submitted to the court.
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N Venugopal writes after meeting VV Rao at Nanavati Hospital

20/11/2020

Release the Poet @ fb

Akkaiah (Hemalatha, Poet’s partner), Sahaja (Poet’s daughter) and I met VV separately in Nanavati Hospital today morning. Akkaiah was allowed twice for 20 minutes and Sahaja and me each 15 minutes once. The first thing VV told Akkaiah was “they are going to discharge me today. They are just waiting for your visit and doctors wanted to speak to you before discharge and sending to hospital!”
It seems after the High Court order on Wednesday, he was hurriedly brought to the hospital and various tests were done till two in the night. “All normal” reports were made by Thursday and waiting for family so that he could be discharged and sent back to jail began.
All this is an attempt to refuse bail, said VV.
He looked weak and fragile. With huge weight loss, age is showing. Still he has not got control over urination. Nails of feet and hands are discoloured. Hands are shivering. But then the hospital thinks he is normal to be discharged!
Only good thing that happened in the hospital seems to removal of catheter and urine bag.
So we don’t know when he will be sent back to jail. Though keeping him in hospital for 15 days was mentioned by judges and reported in press, that did not come into the written order. The court’s direction of allowing family visit is being interpreted by police officials in the hospital as they like.
Amidst such ill-health and so many conspiracies, his spirits are high. He is mentally as strong as he was. He enquired about many friends and said he was quite alright. Tears welled up in his eyes hearing the death news of Seshaiah.
Except RELEASE, nothing is the needed relief.