Persecution – Page 73 – free them all

Vernon Gonsalve’s third birthday in a crowded jail

23/04/2021 Maya

By Sagar Abraham-Gonsalves @ fb

Yesterday was my father’s birthday. For a third year he spent it in a crowded jail and for a second year in a row he did so under the serious threat of a pandemic out of control. The threat seems far more severe this year and he, now aged 64, still very much falls in the category of vulnerable people. In the absence of an individual, memories are what we tend to hold onto and so I thought of sharing a memory from his earlier birthday in prison in 2019. …

Bhima Koregaon case shows ‘deteriorating democracy’ in India: Panelists at US congressional briefing / Watch video

23/04/2021 Rani

Bhima Koregaon case shows ‘deteriorating democracy’ in India: Panelists at US congressional briefing

23/04/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

This came after a Massachusetts-based digital forensics firm found further evidence that 22 letters were planted in activist Rona Wilson’s laptop.
A US congressional briefing held by a coalition of Indian American and human rights organisations on Thursday said that the Bhima Koregaon violence case was a clear evidence of “deteriorating democracy” in India. The briefing took place on Thursday after a new report from a United States-based digital forensics firm revealed that a hacker planted 22 additional incriminating documents in activist Rona Wilson’s laptop.
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Video: India’s Most Important Human Rights Defenders Incarcerated Without Trial

20/04/2021

en |1h30min | 2021

By Hindus for Human Rights

Congressional briefing
April 22, 2021
On February 10, Washington Post showed how renowned human rights defenders in India were incarcerated on the basis of forged files planted using malware. Hear experts on digital forensics and human rights speak about the landmark Bhima-Koregaon case, seen as the most significant test case for human rights and rule of law in India.
This Thursday, HfHR and our partners are hosting a Congressional Briefing on the #BhimaKoregaon case, in which Indian human rights activists have been incarcerated on the basis of forged evidence.
Watch video

There Is No Case. Release the Bhima Koregaon 16 and Compensate Them

22/04/2021 Maya

by American Bar Association Justice Defenders Program (April 22):
+++ We are extremely concerned regarding further reports of evidence tampering to incriminate the #BhimaKoregaon activists and continue to call for their immediate release +++
We previously facilitated the work of @ArsenalArmed to conduct a forensic review of a computer seized by police and used as evidence in the #BhimaKoregaon cases. The report finds that an attacker used malware to infiltrate the laptop, depositing at least 10 incriminating letters +++
The latest report by Arsenal, facilitated by the Center, finds that 22 additional documents were also delivered to the computer by the same attacker +++
In light of the discovery of malware used for evidence tampering, we continue to call for the immediate release of all #BhimaKoregaon defenders +++ Our preliminary report on the #BhimaKoregaon cases identified potential procedural irregularities and possible fair trial violations +++ / Read preliminary report (Oct 2019) here (PDF)

There Is No Case. Release the Bhima Koregaon 16 and Compensate Them

22/04/2021

The Wire / by Jignesh Mevani and Meena Kandasamy

A second report released on April 21, 2020 by Arsenal Computing contains more damning evidence of how files were planted on Rona Wilson’s computer.
It is a year since we jointly authored an op-ed denouncing the arrest of Professor Anand Teltumbde on Ambedkar Jayanti.
We highlighted the fact that his incarceration in the Bhima Koregaon case had less to do with any so-called conspiracy, and more to do with his Dalit-centred Marxist politics, which was seen as a direct threat to the corporate-Manuvadi government of Modi.
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Planted Evidence: Bombay HC to Hear Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen’s Pleas on April 29

22/04/2021 Rani

The Wire / by pti

The activists had moved the court alleging tampering of evidence in light of the reports published by US cyber forensic firm Arsenal Consulting.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday said it will hear the petitions filed by activists Rona Wilson and Shoma Sen in the Bhima Koregaon case on April 29.
The activists had moved the court alleging tampering of evidence in light of the reports published by US cyber forensic firm Arsenal Consulting and seeking that the charges against them be quashed.
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Sudha Bharadwaj, currently in Byculla jail, has been showing covid like symptoms

21/04/2021 Rani

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

38 inmates of Byculla jail test positive

21/04/2021

The Hindu / by Special Correspondent

Jyoti Jagtap, accused in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case, and Indrani Mukerjea, prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, have tested positive for COVID-19 among 38 other inmates in Byculla jail.
A prison official, requesting anonymity, said Sudha Bharadwaj and Shoma Sen, also accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case, have been vaccinated but have fever and an upset stomach.
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Byculla Jail: 40 Female Inmates Reportedly COVID-19 Positive

21/04/2021

she the people / by Tanvi Khauri

Byculla Jail COVID-19: The deadly wave of coronavirus raging through Maharashtra, making it the worst-affected state in India, has reportedly reached Mumbai’s Byculla Jail. 40 inmates, including former media executive Indrani Mukerjea, have tested positive for the virus, as per reports. Media quoted authorities saying they have been shifted to a quarantine facility.
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Bombay High Court Takes Suo Motu Cognisance Of Covid-19 Surge In Prisons

17/04/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Bombay High Court on Friday took Suo Motu cognisance of the surge in Covid-19 cases in various prisons across Maharashtra based on newspaper reports.
One hundred and ninety-eight prison inmates tested positive in 47 prisons across the State as of April 14, 2021, according to the reports. Additionally, eighty-six staff members have also tested positive.
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More Proof Of Planted Evidence On Rona Wilson’s Computer / More Damning Signs of Planted Evidence

21/04/2021 Rani

Forensics Firm Finds More Proof Of Planted Evidence On Rona Wilson’s Computer: Report

21/04/2021

Medianama / by Advait Palepu

In its second report, Massachusetts-based digital forensics firm Arsenal Consulting found that a malicious software used by an attacker had planted an additional set of files on prison rights’ activist Rona Wilson’s computer. The firm said that there was no evidence that Wilson interacted with these files and documents, which are cited by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) in its charge-sheet against Wilson and others in the Bhima-Koregaon case.
The Washington Post and The Reporter’s Collective were the first to report on the findings of Arsenal Consulting.
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In Bhima-Koregaon Case, More Damning Signs of Planted Evidence

21/04/2021

Article 14 / by Shreegiresh Jalihal/THE REPORTERS’ COLLECTIVE

A new report by a leading US digital forensic company offers ‘irrefutable’ proof of arrested activist Rona Wilson’s devices being hacked and explains how 22 files were planted. These files are key evidence in the Bhima-Koregaon case, where 16 academics, lawyers, artistes are imprisoned without bail or trial.
A new report from a US-based digital forensics company has said a hacker planted 22 “incriminating” files in activist Rona Wilson’s computer, days after violence in the Maharashtra town of Bhima-Koregaon in January 2018.
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Also read:
► KEY EVIDENCE AGAINST JAILED ACTIVISTS PLANTED USING MALWARE, SAYS FORENSIC REPORT [READ REPORT] / VIDEO: PLANTED EVIDENCE? (Feb 2021)
► Prison-rights activist Rona Wilson’s hard disk contained malware that allowed remote access (The Caravan, March 2020)

From FIR to Malware Claims: A Timeline of the Bhima Koregaon Case

21/04/2021 Maya

The Quint / by Vakaha Sachdev

All you need to know about the 16 accused, 3 charge sheets, and the controversial narrative surrounding the case.
When exactly did the Bhima Koregaon case, as it has come to be known, begin?
Was it on the day the first set of activists were arrested, back in June 2018? Was it the day when malware was allegedly planted on the computers of at least one of the accused, two years before that? Or do we have to go all the way back to the Battle of Bhima Koregaon itself to understand what’s really going on with this case?
And when will this case, which has dragged on for nearly three years with a trial nowhere in sight, end?
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Why Indian Scholars Must Be Protected Against ‘Content Seizure’

14/04/2021 Maya

The Quint/ by Arghya Bhaskar

A petition claims that, when seized, academic work becomes vulnerable to tampering, plagiarism, damage, destruction.
In the last week of March 2021, the Supreme Court of India heard a plea seeking the protection of ‘academic freedom’ from raids and seizures of police and investigative agencies.
Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan and Advocate Prassanna is representing the petitioners. The petition was filed in light of recent news events where allegations of ‘evidence planting’ have been made in the case of arrested intellectuals in the Bhima Koregaon incident. The Supreme Court has sought a reply from the Centre within four weeks in the matter.
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Vira Sathidar’s Life Was a Lesson in Political Commitment and Solidarity

14/04/2021 Maya

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Nothing perturbed Vira Sathidar, not even the constant harassment by the NIA or the local Nagpur police.
On October 21 last year, when I finally could access one of the countless rounds of supplementary chargesheets in the Elgar Parishad case, I had immediately called Vira Sathidar. His name was among the list of many “Urban Naxals” named in the chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). It was not surprising, but concerning, nevertheless. No “crime” was attributed to Vira Sathidar, but he was named several times. “Asta tey tasa (It is usually like that in these cases),” he told me in his signature Nagpuri drawl. Nothing perturbed Vira Sathidar, not even the constant harrowing by the NIA or the local Nagpur police. He was used to police raids and their persistent harassments.
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NIA to court: Report of digital consultant submitted by Teltumbde not authenticated

09/04/2021 Rani

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

The report was submitted by Teltumbde’s lawyers last month to the court seeking permission to rely on it at the time of his bail application.
The NIA has said that the special court hearing the Elgar Parishad case should not rely on the report of a US-based digital consultant submitted by accused Anand Teltumbde during his bail hearing as it is not authenticated. The report prepared by Arsenal Consulting had said that incriminating evidence claimed to have been found on the electronic device of his co-accused Rona Wilson was planted.
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