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Category: Repression

Spyware attacks on rights defenders show continuing attempt to fix case

Spyware attacks on rights defenders show continuing attempt to fix case

Scroll.in / by Sruthisagar Yamunan

On Monday, an Amnesty International report, put together with digital activist group Citizens Lab, pointed to targeted spyware attacks last year against nine human rights defenders who were helping the people arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case in Maharashtra.
The report is the latest chapter in a case in which it seems an array of forces are at work to plant evidence against 11 human rights activists and lawyers arrested in connection with violence that erupted between Marathas and Dalits in the village of Bhima Koregaon outside Pune on January 1, 2018.
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Things Getting Really Bad in Overcrowded Maharashtra Prisons

Things Getting Really Bad in Overcrowded Maharashtra Prisons

Newsclick / by Parth MN

Even after 2 deceased inmates were found COVID-19 positive, testing is not being done in Taloja where rights activists, mostly 60+, arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case have been lodged.
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OF 269 PRISON INMATES WHO TESTED POSITIVE IN MAHARASHTRA, 115 RECOVERED

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

As of June 13, 17, 695 screenings and 1681 swab tests were conducted in 10 Central Prisons in Maharashtra and in the Additional Director General, Prisons (ADGP) office of which 269 tested positive, 115 recovered and four died, the Bombay High Court was informed on Monday.
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The Day Justice Hosbet Suresh Was Threatened With Arrest

The Day Justice Hosbet Suresh Was Threatened With Arrest

The Wire / by Susan Abraham

The police’s relentless pursuit of human rights activists in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence did not spare judges either.
The Bhima Koregaon case, in which 11 prominent human rights activists, lawyers and academics languish behind bars, that too during a pandemic, has now become the template for similar arrests taking place in different parts of the country 2014 under the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah regime.
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Human Rights Defenders Targeted by a Coordinated Spyware Operation

Human Rights Defenders Targeted by a Coordinated Spyware Operation

Amnesty International / By Amnesty Internatioanl & Citizen Lab

Amnesty International and the Citizen Lab have uncovered a coordinated spyware campaign targeting at least nine human rights defenders (HRDs) in India. Eight of the nine HRDs have been calling for the release of other prominent activists, popularly known as the Bhima Koregaon 11, most of whom have been imprisoned in Maharashtra, India since 2018.
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Also Read: Human Rights Defenders Targeted by a Coordinated Spyware Operation

After NIA Chargesheet Called it Criminal, Twitter Responds with #LalSalaamComrade

After NIA Chargesheet Called it Criminal, Twitter Responds with #LalSalaamComrade

Newsclick / by Newsclick Report

Registering their protest against an increasingly “authoritarian” state, users on social media in India used the hashtag #LalSalaamComrade on Twitter this evening. The hashtag also comes about days after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) held that the use of “lal salam” and “comrade” meant that one is a Maoist.
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Selection of posters @ #LalSalaamComrade (click to enlarge)

Despite Court Order, Sudha Bharadwaj Denied Basic Right of Phone Calls in Jail

Despite Court Order, Sudha Bharadwaj Denied Basic Right of Phone Calls in Jail

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

While others who have been accused in the case have managed to stay in touch with their families and lawyers, Bharadwaj’s daughter and lawyers have not been able to do so despite multiple requests and a court order.
Mumbai: Maaysha saw her mother, Sudha Bharadwaj, last on February 22. It was a day after Maaysha’s birthday; she turned 23 this year. In the mulaqaat (meeting) at Yerwada prison in Pune, Bharadwaj – an academic and human rights activist – was barely given five minutes to talk to her daughter who had travelled from Delhi just for this meeting.
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UPDATE, June 10: After nearly 3 months, jail authorities allowed Sudha Bharadwaj to call her daughter & speak to her for 2 minutes.

Second Anniversary of June 6 Arrests – Who are these Activists?

Second Anniversary of June 6 Arrests – Who are these Activists?

By Concerned Citizens

June 6 marks the second anniversary of the nation-wide onslaught on and implication of activists and their arrest in the Bhima Koregaon case. Exactly two years ago, Pune police conducted simultaneous raids on five houses in Nagpur, Delhi and Mumbai and arrested Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawle and Mahesh Raut. The case has not moved an inch in the last two years and they are still languishing in Maharashtra jails.

Who are these activists?

Who is Surendra Gadling?
All posts related to Surendra Gadling
Who is Shoma Sen?
All posts related to Shoma Sen
Who is Rona Wilson?
All posts related to Rona Wilson
Who is Sudhir Dhawale?
All posts related to Sudhir Dhawale
Who is Mahesh Raut?
All posts related to Mahesh Raut

Solidarity Statements of June 2018

Statement by Indian Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL):
IAPL CONDEMNS ARREST OF ACTIVISTS
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Statement by Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS):
ON THE ARBITRARY ARRESTS OF SHOMA SEN, SUDHIR DHAWALE, SURENDRA GADLING, RONA WILSON, AND MAHESH RAUT BY THE MAHARASHTRA POLICE
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Statement by People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), Maharashtra:
PUCL CONDEMNS THE ARREST OF SURENDRA GADLING, SUDHIR DHAWALE, RONA WILSON, SHOMA SEN, MAHESH RAUT AND RANA JACOB
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Bhima Koregaon Case: A glaring example of Hindutva lies

Bhima Koregaon Case: A glaring example of Hindutva lies

Siasat.com / by N Venugopal

New Delhi: Hindutva – the official guiding principle of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and all the members in its parivar – is an embodiment of lies, fabrication, distortion, deception, obfuscation, hatred and unleashing violence. If one thought that this characterization is an ideological subjective opinion, it is better to look at this glaring example of Bhima Koregaon violence case, a subject of gross obfuscation of facts and inhuman incarceration of public-spirited individuals over the last two years.
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Covid cases in jail where Shoma lodged worry kin

Covid cases in jail where Shoma lodged worry kin

The Times of India / by Shishir Arya & Sarfaraz Ahmed

Nagpur: Two years after activists — Nagpur University professor retired) Shoma Sen and lawyer Surendra Gadling – were arrested in Bhima-Koregaon case, their kin say the lockdown has left them clueless about their well-being in jail. They were already complaining of a slow progress in the case.
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Injustice In The Courts: Four Indian Laws That Should Have Never Existed

Injustice In The Courts: Four Indian Laws That Should Have Never Existed


Drawing by Fathima Z. B.

Maktoobmedia.com / by Mrinal Sharma, Amnesty International India

First published May 6, 2020
The criminal justice system loses credibility when people are detained for no good reason. In India, this happens frequently under many laws, where journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers, and students are arrested just for being critical of the government.
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