Persecution – Page 81 – free them all

NIA opposes bail plea of Stan Swamy / Stan Swamy likely to be shifted to Arthur Road Jail

15/12/2020 Rani

NIA opposes Stan Swamy’s bail plea, claims he was part of ‘deep-rooted conspiracy’

15/12/2020

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The central agency said Swamy cannot be given bail as it was yet to complete investigating emails and other digital evidence gathered at the time of his arrest.
The National Investigation Agency on Monday opposed the bail plea filed by tribal rights activist Stan Swamy, and alleged that the 83-year-old was part of the alleged conspiracy to instigate violence in 2017, PTI reported.
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NIA opposes bail plea of Stan Swamy

15/12/2020

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Father Stan Swamy had moved a plea seeking opportunity to be heard if a decision is taken to transfer him to any other prison. Swamy has been lodged in Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai since his arrest in October…
The court was also informed about the application by co-accused Gautam Navlakha seeking from jail authorities to provide him five books per month in Taloja prison. After hearing submissions, the court granted NIA to respond to the pleas and posted further hearings on December 21.
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Stan Swamy likely to be shifted to Arthur Road Jail

15/12/2020

Free Press Journal / by Staff Reporter

Swamy’s advocate had made a plea on December 4, seeking that Swamy not be shifted from Taloja Jail without their being heard.
Octogenarian tribal rights activist Stan Swamy may be shifted out of the Taloja Central Prison in Navi Mumbai to Arthur Road Jail in the city. The Taloja jail superintendent, in a report, informed the court on Monday that while the jail authorities did not plan to shift him presently, considering his age and ailments, they were likely to move him to Arthur Road Jail, which had government hospitals nearby.
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NIA Cites Kabir Kala Manch’s Songs That Parody Modi, BJP to Oppose Bail to Arrested Singers

14/12/2020 Rani

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Along with the songs, the agency has also relied upon evidence from 2011 and 2012 and has claimed that the activists were in touch with absconding Naxal leader Milind Teltumbde.
Singing parodical songs against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been presented as one of the grounds for arresting singers and activists of the cultural troupe Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) in the Elgar Parishad case. In its response filed in the Bombay high court against the bail application moved by the vocalists of KKM, Sagar Gorkhe (32) and Ramesh Gaichor (38), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has cited their songs which critique Narendra Modi and certain BJP policies as one of the grounds for arrest.
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India’s 21st-century dungeons – Government is tardy with revealing jail data

14/12/2020 Maya

UCA News / by John Dayal

A little plastic hollow straw, much like the one you’d get with fresh tender coconut or cold drink at a roadside eatery, has gained much attention not just on the vagaries of the law of the land and its courts, but even more on the conditions in the prisons in India.
It took several weeks for 84-year-old Jesuit Father Stan Swamy–in prison as a mere suspect in a trumped-up conspiracy called the Bhima-Koregaon case–to get the plastic drinking straw, which he needs to take a sip of water or tea because his Parkinson’s disease afflicted hands can bare hold the cup. He is not yet an undertrial, and certainly not a convict.
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When saints are in prison: Custody as a form of torture

12/12/2020 Rani

The Quint / by Kaleeswaram Raj

Incarceration is not mere curtailment of freedom. It is a diminution of human dignity. And today, one is forced to think that individual dignity in India is in deep crisis.
It is amazing to watch the Supreme Court building that symbolises a wonderful architectural tradition. It is more so when one looks at the flock of birds that fly over the court’s tomb, epitomising universal liberty, a theme that the Constitution tried to imbibe. It contains provisions for certain fundamental rights even for non-citizens. Article 21 promises right to life and personal liberty to ‘any person’. The court has interpreted life to always mean dignified life.
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Organisers of Elgar Parishad say accused are denied basic human rights

11/12/2020 Rani

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

On Human Rights Day, retired judges say intellectuals have been implicated for speaking against the government.
It is close to three years that intellectuals, activists and lawyers were arrested in the Bhima Koregaon violence case. Retired judges, who organised the Elghar Parishad event, say, “All those accused in the case are not connected with it but they have been implicated because they have spoken against the government. They are denied basic human rights.”
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Taloja jail says new spectacles given to Navlakha; govt to probe / Making a spectacle

11/12/2020 Rani

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Taloja jail says new spectacles given to Navlakha; govt to probe

11/12/2020

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

Navlakha (69), who was arrested by the NIA, had told his partner Sahba Husain that his spectacles were stolen in the jail.
Taloja Central Jail authorities said a new pair of spectacles has been made and handed over to activist Gautam Navlakha, lodged in the prison in connection to the Elgaar Parishad case, on Thursday.
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Making a spectacle

11/12/2020

The Indian Express / by Indian Express Editorial

Bombay HC is right to underline the need for dignity for undertrials. Speedy justice must also be made a priority.
The weeks that it took for a straw and a sipper to reach an 83-year-old tribal rights activist afflicted with Parkinson’s; the time it took for authorities in a Mumbai jail to turn away a pair of spectacles meant for a civil rights activist — both, among many other instances, are a measure of the gap between human dignity and the justice system.
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From Segregation to Labour, Manu’s Caste Law Governs the Indian Prison System

10/12/2020

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

In several states, prison manuals still dictate that labour within the prison should be assigned on the basis of caste.
On his first day at the Alwar district prison, Ajay Kumar* was gearing up for the worst. Torture, stale food, biting cold and harsh labour – Bollywood had already acquainted him with the grisly realities of jails. “Gunah batao (Tell me your crime),” a police constable, placed at the undertrial (UT) section, asked him as soon as he was escorted inside a tall iron gateway.
Ajay had barely mumbled something, when the constable snapped, “Kaun jaati (Which caste)?” Unsure, Ajay paused and then hesitantly said, “Rajak”.
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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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Humanity most important: Bombay HC while hearing plea by Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor

08/12/2020 Rani

Humanity Most Important: Bombay High Court On Jail Authorities Refusing Gautam Navlakha’s Spectacles Sent By Partner

08/12/2020

Live Law / by Nitish Kasyap

The Bombay High Court while hearing plea filed by two accused in the Bhima Koregaon case made significant observations regarding the news about another accused in the case Gautam Navlakha, who is currently lodged at Taloja prison…
A division bench of Justice SS Shinde and Justice MS Karnik was hearing criminal writ petitions filed by Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor, two accused in the case.
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Humanity important: Bombay HC after jail officials deny spectacles to Gautam Navlakha

08/12/2020

The Indian Express / by Omkar Gokhale

“We need to conduct workshops for jailers. How are such small items denied? These are all human considerations,” said the Division Bench.
… The bench indicted that on the question of granting interim bail to the accused, it was bound by the past judgements including that by the Supreme Court, which last year set aside a Delhi High Court order granting bail to Jammu and Kashmir businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, arrested by the NIA on terror funding charge.
The HC has set December 21 as the next date for hearing petitions in the case.
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Humanity is of utmost importance: Bombay HC while hearing plea by Bhima Koregaon accused

08/12/2020

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

“It is high time to conduct workshops for jail authorities. Can such requests be denied?” the Court asked in view of reports that Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, was being denied spectacles.
The Bench of Justices SS Shinde and MS Karnik was hearing a plea moved by Ramesh Gaichor and Sagar Gorkhe.
Senior Advocate Mihir Desai, appearing for the two accused, informed the Court that the pleas included a component of illegal arrest, which would involve arguments on personal liberty but which he was not pressing for immediately.
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Stan Swamy reluctant to move out of Taloja jail / Stan Swamy files 3 new pleas

05/12/2020 Rani

Stan Swamy reluctant to move out of Taloja jail

5/12/2020

Free Press Journal / by Staff Reporter

Plea for straw, sipper and winter wear pending before court as report from jail did not arrive on Friday.
While 83-year-old tribal rights activist Stan Swamy’s plea for straw, sipper and winter wear continues to be pending before the court as the report from jail did not arrive on Friday, Swamy’s advocate has made a plea before the special court on Friday seeking to be heard if Swamy is to be shifted out of Taloja Central Jail where he is currently lodged.
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Stan Swamy files 3 new pleas seeking his bag, copy of hard disk and direction against jail transfer

04/12/2020

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Swamy’s lawyer on Friday confirmed to the court that he has received a straw, sipper and winter clothes.
Jailed activist Stan Swamy on Friday moved the special National Investigation Agency court with three new petitions, reported The Hindu. The pleas sought direction to the investigation agency to return Swamy’s bag, which was seized during his arrest, a clone copy of his hard disk, and an order not to transfer him from Taloja Jail, where he is currently lodged.
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Father Stan Swamy files fresh application in NIA Court for his bag, clone copy of hard disk

04/12/2020

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Advocate Shariq Sheikh appearing for Swamy, claimed that Swamy had heard from a jail official that he may be transferred to another jail.
Father Stan Swamy, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case and presently lodged in a prison hospital, has moved the Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court seeking return of his bag and also requesting for a clone copy of his hard disk, both allegedly under NIA custody.
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