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Category: Persecution

Arrested Indian Jesuit’s detention extended /Court Rejects Stan Swamy’s Interim Bail Plea

Arrested Indian Jesuit’s detention extended /Court Rejects Stan Swamy’s Interim Bail Plea

Arrested Indian Jesuit’s detention extended

25/10/2020

UCA News / by UCA News reporter

A special court in India’s business capital Mumbai extended the judicial custody of an octogenarian Indian Jesuit for another two more weeks on Oct. 23, rejecting his plea for an interim-bail considering his advanced age and poor health.
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Court Rejects Stan Swamy’s Interim Bail Plea in Elgar Parishad Case

23/10/2020

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Swamy had filed an interim bail application on medical grounds, given his age, pre-existing conditions and the COVID-19 pandemic.
A special court on Thursday rejected the interim bail plea filed by 83-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Stan Swamy, arrested in the Elgar Parishad case.
Swamy was arrested on October 8 from Ranchi, Jharkhand by the National Investigation Agency and taken to Mumbai the day after. He had filed an interim bail application on medical grounds, given his age, pre-existing conditions and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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NIA court rejects Father Stan Swamy’s plea for interim bail

22/10/2020

Hindustan Times / by Charul Shah

The special National Investigating Agency (NIA) court on Thursday rejected the interim bail plea filed by 83-year-old activist Father Stan Swamy…
His lawyer, Sharif Shaikh, had moved a plea for interim bail claiming, “The applicant is 83-years old, suffering from various ailments like hearing loss from both ears, arms injury. He has undergone two hernia operations, and still is suffering from abdomen pain. He suffers intense pain from lumbar spondylosis i.e. the tear and wear of the lumbar disc and tremors in both hands due to Parkinson’s disease.”
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On trail for thoughts – What is stopping the Elgaar Parishad activists from getting bail?

On trail for thoughts – What is stopping the Elgaar Parishad activists from getting bail?

Millenium Post / by Abhinay Lakshman

With three chargesheet now filed against them, what is stopping the Elgaar Parishad activists from getting bail? With evidence of their “provocative” speeches vague and questions being raised on the veracity of other evidence, is this what being tried for one’s thoughts feels like?
Some of the country’s pioneering rights activists, professors, lawyers and human rights advocates have been languishing in jail for years now by precisely this modus operandi – and their trial is yet to even begin.
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Court takes cognizance of NIA’s supplementary chargesheet; says prima-facie material exists

Court takes cognizance of NIA’s supplementary chargesheet; says prima-facie material exists


Ranchi, Oct 2020

Free Press Journal / By Staff Reporter

The seven accused Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha, Hany Babu, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Jagtap and Stan Swamy have been charged for criminal conspiracy among other offences under the IPC and under sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The court noted that in view of the aforesaid allegations and considering the material available on record, it finds that there is prima-facie material on record against the accused persons to take cognizance of the offences. Hence, cognizance is taken.
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NIA says Kabir Kala Manch’s plays, songs led to violence, death at Bhima Koregaon

NIA says Kabir Kala Manch’s plays, songs led to violence, death at Bhima Koregaon

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

Central agency files third chargesheet, says banned CPI (Maoist) misled Dalits.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) said, “Activists of Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) were making objectionable statements about history which were detrimental to the social harmony and they were playing street plays, singing objectionable songs which led to stone pelting, violence, arson and death in the area of Koregaon Bhima.”
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NIA Claims Arrested Accused Were Attempting to Create a ‘Dalit Militia’

NIA Claims Arrested Accused Were Attempting to Create a ‘Dalit Militia’

NIA Claims Arrested Accused Were Attempting to Create a ‘Dalit Militia’

21/10/2020

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

The NIA chargesheet has sidelined the Pune police’s earlier claim that the accused were plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mumbai: In the over 10,000-page chargesheet recently filed in the Elgar Parishad case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has stacked together statements by witnesses who have made claims ranging from arms training undertaken by a few arrested accused in the forests of central India to some trying to “reinvent Dalit militancy” in the country.
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Teltumbde brought Maoist literature, videos from abroad: NIA chargesheet

21/10/2020

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has alleged in its chargesheet filed in the Elgar Parishad case that former IIT professor Anand Teltumbde attended international conferences “under the guise of… academic visits abroad” and brought back Maoist literature and videos on “ideology, tactics, weapons” to show members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
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CPI(M) gets Rs 3 crore a year from Maharashtra, MP & Chhattisgarh zone, says NIA chargesheet

21/10/2020

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

The National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) 10,000-page chargesheet in the Elgaar Parishad case relies on witness statements to draw up details about the banned CPI (Maoist), including its means of funding, training and recruitment.
According to a witness, members of the organisation collect Rs 350 per bag of tendua leaves – containing 1,000 pouches – as tax.
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NIA chargesheet claims triangular links between Delhi student front, accused and CPI (Maoist)

21/10/2020

Free Press Journal / by Bhavna Uchil

The chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad case has claimed a “concrete triangular link between a student’s organization functioning in New Delhi, arrested accused and CPI (Maoist) operating from the deep forest”.
It states that the issues related with the student front at JNU DSU are highlighted with some of the communication made with Maoist.
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Suppressing Dissent / Who is Really the Enemy of the People?

Suppressing Dissent / Who is Really the Enemy of the People?

Suppressing Dissent

20/10/2020

Medium.com / by Arun Simon

Dissent is rarely welcomed in any society. As power increases, appreciation of dissent decreases. Innumerable examples can be seen with dictators or absolute powers. It is also possible in religion, culture, and other domains… My country India, with all its high democratic values, is no different. The officially declared emergency(1975) may be the worst period in that line. But there are many unofficial competitors for the same today. The recent arrest of many social activists (latest in that line being Fr. Stan Swamy, a tribal activist) under a draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with many contemporary events raises serious questions.
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Who is Really the Enemy of the People?

20/10/2020

NewsClick / by Suhit K Sen

India will have to look to forces within the country to steer back towards political processes that incorporate opposition, dissent and diversity.
Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist, was arrested in Ranchi on 9 October. The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which carried out the arrest, claimed he was a member of the CPI (Maoist) organisation. It appears that anyone who works for Dalit rights, or is not in full agreement with the toxic ideology of the Sangh parivar, must be a Maoist.
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Stan Swamy’s bail plea cites his age, ailments, corona

Stan Swamy’s bail plea cites his age, ailments, corona

Stan Swamy’s bail plea cites his age, ailments, corona

19/10/2020

The Times of India / by Rebecca Samervel

An 83-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights worker from Jharkhand, Stan Swamy, who was arrested earlier this month in the Elgar Parishad and the Koregaon-Bhima case, has moved the special NIA court seeking interim bail citing his age, ailments and the coronavirus pandemic.
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Stan Swamy moves special court for bail on medical grounds

19/10/2020

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The NIA, however, opposed the plea on Saturday, stating that there is no merit in Swamy seeking relief as per the committee’s guidelines.
Stan Swamy, the 83-year old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist, arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier this month in the Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, approached a special court last week seeking interim bail on medical grounds…
The court will hear Swamy’s bail application on Tuesday.
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A conversation with an officer of the NIA on the arrest of 84-year-old Jesuit Fr Stan Swamy

A conversation with an officer of the NIA on the arrest of 84-year-old Jesuit Fr Stan Swamy

National Herald / by Uttam Sengupta

The priest was arrested by the NIA for his alleged links with Maoists and for instigating the violence at Bhima Koregaon near Pune in 2017, a place he never visited.
The conversation with the NIA officer took place at a location which cannot be disclosed at his request. The officer, not authorized to speak to the media, spoke on the condition of anonymity. Excerpts from the conversation.
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Varavara Rao’s wife moves Supreme Court for his immediate release on medical grounds

Varavara Rao’s wife moves Supreme Court for his immediate release on medical grounds

Hindustan Times / by Kanchan Chaudhari

The wife of 82-year-old activist and poet Dr Varavara Rao, P Hemlatha, moved a writ petition in the Supreme Court (SC) for Rao’s immediate release on medical grounds. The petition says his custody amounts to cruel and inhuman treatment, violating Article 21 of the Constitution of India and is violative of his dignity in custody.
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‘Dr. Varavara Rao’s Health Condition Feeble’: Wife Moves SC For His Release On Medical Grounds

Live Law / by Sanya Talwar

Dr. P. Varavara Rao’s wife, Pendaya Hemlatha, has moved the Supreme Court in a writ petition for the immediate release of her husband basis medical grounds…
Filed on behalf of Senior Advocate Sunil Fernandes, the writ petition preferred under Article 32 of the Constitution states that Rao’s immediate release is pertinent from Taloja Central Jail, Maharashtra as his health condition is very feeble and that he suffers from various co-morbodities and not every person with Covid19 has similar symptoms.
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Media reports about the new 10,000 page chargesheet in the Bhima Koregaon case

Media reports about the new 10,000 page chargesheet in the Bhima Koregaon case


Drawing by Arun Fereirra

Chargesheet in Elgar Parishad case: CPI Maoist documents, letters on ‘anti-fascist front’ cited by NIA

14/10/2020

The Indian Express / by Deeptiman Tiwary

The agency last week submitted its first chargesheet in the case, which was filed in connection with the violence on January 1, 2018, in Pune.
Literature on 50 years of Naxalbari, CPI Maoist press releases, a guide on encrypted data communication on GSM network, a mini manual of “urban guerrilla”, “information literature related to weapon, bomb, mortar” and letters discussing issues like raising a militant “anti-fascist front” in the wake of attacks on Dalits and minorities — these are among key evidences cited by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against activists such as Stan Swamy, Hany Babu, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde in the Elgar Parishad case.
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Milind Teltumbde organised weapons training in forests: NIA claims in its charge sheet

14/10/2020

National Herald / by IANS

Absconding accused Milind Teltumbde had organised arms training in the Korchi forest area of Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli for three activists of the banned organisation Kabir Kala Manch, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) claimed in its charge sheet filed in the Bhima Koregaon case last week. The three activists were Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor and Jyoti Jagtap…
The NIA also claimed that Delhi University Associate Professor Hany Babu, who was arrested from his residence in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida in July this year, was in contact with Paikhomba Meitei, Secretary I&P Military Affairs KCP (MC), an organisation banned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
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NIA chargesheet says Stan Swamy received Rs 8 lakh for CPI-Maoist activities

13/10/2020

ANI / by Nishant Ketu

Stan Swamy, who was arrested last week from Ranchi in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon case, possessed Maoist propaganda material and received Rs eight lakh to carry out activities of the banned CPI-Maoist, NIA has said in its chargesheet.
The NIA said it among the documents seized from Swamy’ residence were “guide of encrypted data communication on GSM network”, “an essential underground handbook”, “letter between comrades for using encryption, “mini-manual of urban guerilla”.
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This is what NIA’s Bhima Koregaon chargesheet says about Stan Swamy

13/10/2020

India Today / by Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu

Stan Swamy is a Jharkhand-based Jesuit priest. He has been booked for criminal conspiracy under the Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act (UAPA). Here’s what the NIA chargesheet says about him.
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Gautam Navlakha Was In Touch with ISI Lobbyist, Says NIA Chargesheet

13/10/2020

News 18 / by Arunima

The NIA in its Elgar Parishad investigation has found a link between Pakistan’s ISI and the CPI-Maoist. The agency in its chargesheet has called activist Gautam Navlakha the link between the two.
The agency filed its first chargesheet in the special NIA court in Mumbai last week against eight people. Besides Navlakha, it named Hany Babu, Stan Swamy, Anand Teltumbde, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Jagtap and Milind Teltumbde under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Prevention Activities Act.
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