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Category: Solidarity

The Preliminary Fair Trial Report: Bhima Koregaon

The Preliminary Fair Trial Report: Bhima Koregaon

American Bar Association / by American Bar Association

In the wake of violent attacks on marginalized communities in India in 2018, the Maharashtra police arrested several activists and lawyers who historically advocated for the rights of these communities. A preliminary review of the judicial records in this case raises serious concerns of procedural irregularities, abuse of process, and violations of fundamental human rights. Several United Nations’ (UN) experts on human rights have expressed concern that the arrests and charges were brought in retaliation for the defendants’ legitimate human rights work.
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Read the full report here (.pdf):

Rights are relative in New India: some have them, some cannot

Rights are relative in New India: some have them, some cannot

The Telegraph / by The Editorial Board

No country that claims to uphold human rights deprives prisoners of the right to self-improvement or the peaceful habit of reading. Yet Shalini Gera, an activist who went to visit the lawyer, Sudha Bharadwaj, imprisoned in Pune’s Yerwada jail since October 2018 for alleged links with the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in the – rather enigmatic – Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, had her birthday gift of two books returned.
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‘This too shall pass’: Sudha Bharadwaj’s daughter writes to her on her birthday

‘This too shall pass’: Sudha Bharadwaj’s daughter writes to her on her birthday

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

It was the second time, on Friday, that trade unionist and human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, lodged at Pune’s Yerwada jail for her alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon violence, spent her birthday away from home. In an emotional letter, her 22-year-old daughter, Maaysha, expressed how proud she is of her mother, and assured her that this too shall pass.
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JJM condemns attachment of Stan Swamy’s belongings by Jharkhand police

JJM condemns attachment of Stan Swamy’s belongings by Jharkhand police

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

The Jharkand Janadhikar Morcha (JJM) has condemned the incessant harassment of human rights defender, Stan Swamy by the Jharkand police
On October 21, a team of Khunti police attached the belongings of 83-year old Stan Swamy, a well-known activist of Jharkhand, from his residence at the Bagaicha campus in Namkum, near Ranchi.
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Procession and Assembly in Chhattisgarh

Procession and Assembly in Chhattisgarh

Cgbasket.in / by Anuj Shrivastava

Today thousands of laborers of Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha-Mazdoor Karyakarta Committee (CMM-MKC) and Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh (PCSS) came out on the streets of Bhilai (Chhattisgarh).
Speakers in the meeting said that nowadays the right of the workers to speak up is being taken away and that this is an attack on the right of freedom of expression. They also said that they stand in solidarity with advocate Sudha Bhardwaj who spoke on the rights of workers and who was arrested under UAPA. They criticised that she has not been released on bail even after one year and that this directly violates democratic values.
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Bail Applications of three social activists rejected by Bombay High Court

Bail Applications of three social activists rejected by Bombay High Court

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

After the Special Court in Pune rejected the bail applications of Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj and Vernon Gonsalves, the Bombay High Court upheld the same and rejected their bail pleas, giving a major blow to the case of social activists, who have argued that they had no direct connection with the Elgar Parishad which took place in Pune in January 2018. While the perpetrators of the violence remain at large, the apparent “instigators” of the attack languish in jails.
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