Browsed by
Category: Solidarity

Stan Swamy case shows why bail on medical grounds remains highly discretionary

Stan Swamy case shows why bail on medical grounds remains highly discretionary

Scroll.in / by Sruthisagar Yamunan

The 84-year-old social activist, arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, is currently in hospital with a Covid-19 infection.
On May 21, when the Bombay High Court took up for hearing a bail application from human rights activist Stan Swamy, the 84-year-old Jesuit priest made an emotional plea that he be allowed to go back to Ranchi, his home town, given his medical condition.
Read more

Webinar on the Bhima Koregaon Case with Adv. Mihir Desai and Adv. Yug Chaudhry on May 30

Webinar on the Bhima Koregaon Case with Adv. Mihir Desai and Adv. Yug Chaudhry on May 30

Lawctopus.com / by Sonali Chugh

May 30
6:30-8:00PM (IST)
Lawctopus and Academike (Lawctopus’ Law Journal) are organising a talk on Bhima Koregaon with Senior Advocate and activist Mihir Desai and Yeats Scholar and Senior Advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry on the Bhima Koregaon case. Both of them represent several accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. In this session, we intend to unfold the many layers of the Bhima Koregaon case. We hope to analyse the many trials of Sudha Bharadwaj, Hany Babu, Anand Teltumbde and Stan Swamy.
Read more / Register for the webinar

Bandra’s St. Peter’s Church puts up signboard in support of 84-year-old Father Stan Swamy

Bandra’s St. Peter’s Church puts up signboard in support of 84-year-old Father Stan Swamy


Outside St Peter’s Church in Bandra. Photo: Keenan Burroughs

Mid-day-com / by Nascimento Pinto

St. Peter’s Church in Bandra put out a message recently in support of Elgar Parishad-accused Father Stan Swamy on its board facing Hill Road. The message on the board, which was spotted and shared online by several locals reads, “We pray for Jesuit Fr Stan Swamy in jail for two thirty three days and counting”. The 84-year-old Jesuit priest is soon going to be shifted to Holy Family Hospital, which is near the church, for 15 days, according to an order by the Bombay High Court on Friday.
Read more

Statement of ABA President Patricia Lee Refo Re: Detention of minority-rights advocates in India

Statement of ABA President Patricia Lee Refo Re: Detention of minority-rights advocates in India

By American Bar Association

WASHINGTON, May 28, 2021 — The American Bar Association is deeply concerned about the continued pretrial detention of minority-rights advocates in the Bhima Koregaon case in India. As many of the accused are over the age of 65 and have serious medical conditions, these activists are at high risk for contracting COVID-19 as India deals with a substantial surge in cases.
Read more

Also read: Should the Bhima Koregaon 16 be left to die? (By Jyoti Punwani, May 17)

Is Stan Swamy not entitled to even a medical bail hearing?

Is Stan Swamy not entitled to even a medical bail hearing?

The Indian Express / by Payoshi Roy 

Parkinson’s has ravaged the body of the Jesuit priest, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. Why won’t the court listen to compelling reason and judicial conscience?
The court has again denied bail in a UAPA case, but now the failure to protect rights has been more egregious. On May 21, Father Stan Swamy’s disease-ravaged body shook as he implored the Bombay High Court for medical bail. Accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, a gargantuan investigation into an alleged Maoist conspiracy to overthrow the Indian state, 84-year-old Swamy has been in custody for eight months.
Read more

The case of Fr Stan Swamy is becoming a test case for civil liberties in India

The case of Fr Stan Swamy is becoming a test case for civil liberties in India

The Free Press Journal / by FPJ Editorial

The case of Fr Stan Swamy, the oldest man to be accused of terrorism in India, is becoming a test case for civil liberties in India. An 84-year-old Jesuit priest with five decades of work among Jharkhand tribals is alleged to be the kingpin of a plot to take on the Modi government through an armed militia. Since he has been incarcerated, his Parkinson’s has worsened. He is literally rotting in jail but unable to get bail. There was a time when he was denied even a sipper to help him drink because tremors made it difficult for him to hold a glass.
Read more

Stan takes a stand / Stan Swamy never let age defeat his passion for struggle, believe his aides

Stan takes a stand / Stan Swamy never let age defeat his passion for struggle, believe his aides

Stan takes a stand

23/05/2021

Mattersindia.com / by Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ

It was quintessential Stan! In a manner which has come to characterize him Jesuit Fr Stan Swamy told the Bombay High Court during a hearing on May 21, “I want to go to Ranchi to be with my friends….Whatever happens to me I would like to be with my own.”
Fr Stan who turned eight-four a few weeks ago on April 26, has been lodged in the Taloja jail since his arrest on October 8, 2020. He was the last one of 16 to be arrested, in the Elgar Parishad/Bhima-Koregaon conspiracy case. That he had nothing to do with either is clear as daylight!
Read more

Stan Swamy never let age defeat his passion for struggle, believe his aides

22/05/2021

The New Indian Express / by Mukesh Ranjan

They strongly believed that his chances of survival will increase manifold if he is released from jail and taken back to Ranchi.
Surprised over the stand taken by the 84-year old Stan Swamy and rejecting Court offer of shifting him to hospital, people close to him believes that he has placed himself along with Bhagat Singh and Khudiram Bose as he tried to give a message to the youths of Jharkhand.
Read more

Father Stan Swamy finally gets first Covid shot, health continues to deteriorate in jail [read medical note]

Father Stan Swamy finally gets first Covid shot, health continues to deteriorate in jail [read medical note]

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

His medical note filed before the Bombay High Court on poor facilities states that Taloja houses 3,251 inmates instead of its capacity of 2,124, with only three Ayurvedic doctors on duty.
Adivasi rights activist and Jesuit Priest Father Stan Swamy has finally been given the first dose of the vaccine against Covid-19 today. This despite the fact that the 84 year old who has multiple comorbidity issues has been eligible to take the vaccine since March 1, 2021. He was reportedly denied the vaccine earlier as he did not have his Aadhaar Card!
Read more

Shift Stan Swamy to a Hospital: Jharkhand Activists Write to Maharashtra Govt

Shift Stan Swamy to a Hospital: Jharkhand Activists Write to Maharashtra Govt

Shift Stan Swamy to a Hospital: Jharkhand Activists Write to Maharashtra Govt

17/05/2021

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

In a letter addressed to the Maharashtra chief minister, activists pointed out that Swamy, who had been arrested last year in the ongoing investigation in the Elgar Parishad case, was a Parkinson’s disease patient.
The Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, a coalition of people’s organisations and activists in the state, has urged the Maharashtra government to immediately shift tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, who is currently lodged at Taloja jail, to a hospital and be provided with medical treatment.
Read more

Condition in Jail Grim: Swamy’s Friends Demand Medical Attention

17/05/2021

The Quint / by The Quint

Stan Swamy was arrested on 9 October 2020 for his alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018.
Calling attention to the poor health condition of 84-year-old Father Stan Swamy inside the Taloja jail, friends and families demanded immediate medical attention.
Read more

Ranchi archdiocese seeks CM’s help in securing bail for Fr Stan

17/05/2021

The Times of India / by Jaideep Deogharia

The Society of Jesuits, Ranchi Archdiocese and Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JJM) have appealed to the chief minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray, to ensure a Covid test, proper treatment and vaccination for octogenariah Father Stan Swamy and others who are in jail in connection to the Bhima-Koregaon violence case.
Read more

Should the BK16 be left to die? / Crowded Jails & COVID: BK16 Accused’s Kin Share Fears

Should the BK16 be left to die? / Crowded Jails & COVID: BK16 Accused’s Kin Share Fears

Should the Bhima Koregaon 16 be left to die?

17/05/2021

Rediff.com / by Jyoti Punwani

Consider this:
In 2019, Father Stan Swamy, accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, had to undergo an emergency appendicitis operation because he had insisted on working till the very last day. The doctor wondered how the then 82-year-old Jesuit priest had borne the pain so long.
In the seven months that he has spent in Taloja jail, not once has Father Stan complained, except to ask for a straw and a sipper because Parkinson’s disease doesn’t allow him to have a steady grip on his cup.
Read more

Crowded Jails & COVID: 16 Bhima Koregaon Accused’s Kin Share Fears

17/05/2021

The Quint / by Mekhala Saran

“Please allow us to take care of them,” beseech their family and friends.
“It looks like once you are a prisoner, there is no value for your life,” said Dr Jenny Rowena, a Delhi University professor and wife of Dr Hany Babu, an undertrial prisoner, at a press conference, organised by friends and family of the 16 accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Dr Babu is currently COVID-positive and admitted in Mumbai’s JJ Hospital with an acute eye infection that has affected his vision. Spreading to his cheeks and forehead, the infection has caused his eyes to bulge out.
Read more

Also read/watch video: Bhima Koregaon, COVID-19 and custodial apathy in jails / Video + Press Release (May 15)