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Bail is Not Impossible in UAPA Cases: Courts Can Shine a Path to Justice

19/10/2021 Asha

Bail is Not Impossible in UAPA Cases: Courts Can Shine a Path to Justice

19/10/2021

The Quint / by Vakasha Sachdev

Despite strict bail conditions & the SC’s Watali judgment, courts can still apply their mind to see if charges fit.
India has for many years had a major problem when it comes to pre-trial incarceration. 70 percent of prisoners in India are undertrials, according to the latest available NCRB data (from 2019) – that’s 3,28,000 people in jail without ever being convicted.
… The Bhima Koregaon accused are the best example of this, with bail denied to them despite incriminating evidence appearing to be planted on their computers (Rona Wilson), the material against them being dubious (Sudha Bhardwaj) and having severe illnesses (83-year-old Father Stan Swamy, who eventually died in jail).
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Kappan’s Chargesheet and Threat to Reporters Covering Minority Issues

19/10/2021

Newsclick / by Hana Vahab

An independent journalist in India has been behind the bars for one year. His crime, as per the chargesheet filed is, reporting and writing stories only for “inciting” the Muslim community.
… The number of journalists charged with UAPA in the past five years add up to over 5,000 with a hike of 162% in sedition cases between 2016- 2019 as per the National Crime Records Bureau. Those who were incarcerated under UAPA include … human rights lawyers Arun Ferreria and Surendra Gadling, Dalit rights activists Sudhir Dhawale and Mahesh Raut, women’s rights activist Shoma Sen among others.
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Koregaon Bhima Inquiry Commission Witness from Vadhu Budruk questioned about village history

19/10/2021 Asha

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

The village also has a disputed tomb-like structure, which, according to the Dalit Mahar community, is the samadhi of Govind Gopal Dhegoji Meghoji, a 17th-century Dalit figure.
The cross-examination of Sambhaji Shivale (51), a resident of Vadhu Budruk village in Pune district, continued before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry on Monday.
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Mangaluru college to name park after Stan Swamy despite being threatened by Hindutva groups

09/10/2021 Rani

Action sought against Hindutva groups for threatening Mangaluru college

09/10/2021

New Indian Express / by Express News Service

This blatantly illegal behaviour is a consequence of the free run that is being given to these fascist organisations in coastal Karnataka.
An open letter, endorsed by several organisations like the Campaign to Defend Democracy, All India People’s Forum (AIPF) and activists like P Sainath, Harsh Mander and others, has called upon the Dakshina Kannada district administration and the police to take immediate action against VHP, Bajrang Dal and other right-wing outfits for engaging in criminal intimidation and issuing threats to St Aloysius College, Mangaluru, following its decision to name one of its parks after tribal activist late Fr Stan Swamy.
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Mangaluru college to name park after Stan Swamy despite being threatened by Hindutva groups

09/10/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

A VHP leader had said its members and those belonging to the ABVP and Bajrang Dal would not let St Aloysius College hold the naming ceremony.
A college in Mangaluru has said that it will go ahead and name a park after tribal rights activist Stan Swamy though Hindutva organisations have threatened to not allow it, reported The New Indian Express on Thursday…
Meanwhile, several organisations and activists have written to the Dakshina Kannada district administration to take action against the Hindutva leaders for threatening the college administration, reported The Hindu.
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Who are these Saffronists to tell Not to Name a Park after Fr Stan Swamy in a Jesuit Property?

07/10/2021

Mangaorean.com / by Alfie Dsouza, Team Mangalorean

Mangaluru: With all the present Tension, Communal Riots, Moral Policing, Hate, etc going on in our Country in its 75th year of Independence from the Britishers, it looks like India is no longer an ‘electoral democracy, but an ‘electoral autocracy’ instead, with much of the decline in democratic freedoms occurred after the present government came to power in 2014…
And here is one instance that arose when a press meet was arranged in the City by a few Right-wing groups opposing St Aloysius Institutions, Mangaluru decision to name a park after Fr Stan Swamy, in one of their institution premises in Beeri, in the outskirts of Mangaluru.
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Bhima Koregaon: Outcome of a ‘Larger Conspiracy’?

05/10/2021 Asha

Rediff.com / by Jyoti Punwani

Testimony presented before the Bhima Korgaon Commission over the last two months reveals the background to the violence that broke out on January 1, 2018.
As the Bhima Koregaon accused continue to struggle for bail, important information about the violence that they are accused of instigating is emerging before the judicial commission that’s investigating the violence.
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Sedition law: an imperial legacy, and a weapon of intimidation and subjugation by the regime

03/10/2021 Asha

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

The Leaflet / by Tushar Gandhi

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, TUSHAR GANDHI relies on Mahatma Gandhi’s defence during his 1992 sedition trial to make a case for the abrogation of the colonial-era law, as well as similar other laws that are used to stifle citizens’ democratic rights…
The Bhima Koregaon case is another case of blatant intimidation and punishment of dissent, a democratic right of citizens, in which intellectuals have been arrested and charged, and are being prosecuted.
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Also read:
● The Definition of “Terrorist Act” in UAPA Is So Vague That It Is Susceptible To Misuse: Justice Anjana Prakash (Live Law / Jul 26, 2021)
● Seventeen proposed charges by NIA against accused (Bar & Bench / Aug 22, 2021)
● National Call: Defend Right to Dissent, Repeal Sedition Law, UAPA and Repressive State Laws (July 2021)

Witness Accuses Sambhaji Bhide & Milind Ekbote Of Instigating Bhima Koregaon Riots

01/10/2021 Asha

Witness Before Probe Panel Accuses Sambhaji Bhide & Milind Ekbote Of Instigating Bhima Koregaon Riots

01/10/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Pune police “took away” research papers and evidence that revealed right-wing extremist leaders Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote instigated and initiated the riots at Bhima Koregaon(BK) in Pune, on January 1, 2018, an anti-caste activist alleged before an inquiry panel, on Wednesday.
Harshali Potdar (33) said she managed to re-collect a chunk of the lost evidence after the Pune police searched her office along with the homes of other activists in April 2018. However, core material against the real culprits of the violence is still unavailable.
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Samabhji Bhide, Milind Ekbote instigated Bhima Koregaon riots: Accused event organiser tells Inquiry Commission

30/09/2021

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

The accused in Bhima Koregaon case of 2018, Harshali Potdar, informed the Commission that she apprehended danger to her life for deposing the truth against Bhide and Ekbote in the Commission.
Harshali Potdar, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018 for her alleged links with banned organisation CPI -Maoist stated before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry that the violence was instigated by Samabhji Bhide, former RSS worker and Milind Ekbote, former BJP corporator.
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Ekbote instigated Koregaon Bhima violence, Elgaar Parishad organiser tells panel

20/09/2021

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Advocate Ashish Satpute, the lawyer representing the commission, started recording her examination in chief on Wednesday.
Harshali Potdar (33), who was named as an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case over her alleged links with the banned CPI-Maoist, deposed as a witness before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday.
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Also Read: Casting a Veil – What we miss by ignoring Maratha caste politics in the Bhima Koregaon case (The Caravan, Dec 2020)

When Can an Accused in Jail Get Medical Bail? Is it Possible in UAPA Cases?

23/09/2021 Asha

The Quint / by Vakasha Sachdev

Nearly all Bhima Koregaon accused have been denied medical bail despite serious ailments. Here’s what the law says.
On 24 September, the Bombay High Court will consider whether to extend the bail granted by it to poet and activist Varavara Rao on medical grounds, back in February.
81-year-old Rao had been granted medical bail for six months by the court in view of various medical problems that had kept requiring hospitalisation and repeated deteriorations in his condition every time he was sent back to jail.
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Indian authorities are using tax evasion charges to silence critics, says Human Rights Watch

17/09/2021 Asha

Drawing by PenPencilDraw (@penpencildraw)

Indian authorities are using tax evasion charges to silence critics, says Human Rights Watch

17/09/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The human rights group expressed concern about a number of cases, including raids on the premises of actor Sonu Sood and activist Harsh Mander.
… In January, the Human Rights Watch had released its “World Report 2021”, in which it took note of the security clampdown in Jammu and Kashmir, violence in Delhi in February, cases against activists in the Bhima Koregaon violence and crackdown on foreign funds of non-governmental organisations.
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Can Modi government solve India’s many problems by raiding activists and journalists?

17/09/2021

Scroll.in / by Rohan Venkataramakrishnan

From Harsh Mander to Rana Ayyub to Newslaundry, recent moves have only reinforced the impression that the state wants to intimidate anyone asking questions.
In the middle of 2020, as the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic was raging all around India, a Group of Ministers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration met six times to figure out how to “neutralise the people who are writing against the government”.
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Koregaon Bhima inquiry commission to resume hearings in Pune from September 27

16/09/2021 Asha

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The two-member commission, headed by retired high court judge Justice J N Patel, is probing into the cause of Koregaon Bhima violence of January 1, 2018, in which one person was killed and several injured.
Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry has released its schedule of hearing witnesses in Pune from September 27 to October 1. The Commission had postponed its hearings in Mumbai between August 23 and August 25 due to the unavailability of a bigger place given the Covid-19 situation.
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UN rights chief condemns ongoing restrictions on freedom of assembly

14/09/2021 Asha

Jurist.org / by Sambhav Sharma

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, on Monday condemned India’s restrictions placed on public assembly in Jammu and Kashmir, pursuant to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 (UAPA)…
This condemnation comes after many in India have continuously criticised the allegedly arbitrary and abusive law that punishes dissenters who are vocal against government actions. As many as 5,128 cases have been registered in India under the UAPA since 2015.
The law was also severely scrutinised in July after the demise of Father Stan Swamy, a tribal rights activist who was arrested under the UAPA for his alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon violence in 2018 and his links to Maoists.
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