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Amnesty International: Join The Vigil For Political Prisoners In India

Amnesty International: Join The Vigil For Political Prisoners In India


by Amnesty International UK South Asia Action / @AIUKSouthAsia (Sep 14)
16 lawyers, academics & activists were imprisoned for their criticism of the government and their work supporting the poorest people in #India, including those from low caste, ethnic and religious minority groups. See our Minehead local group supporting the #BK16 at the G20 vigil


India Labour Solidarity (ILS) / @IndLabSol (Sep 9)
Yesterday we took part in the protest in London to #FreeBK16
While world leaders meet in Delhi for the G20, Indian human rights defenders are in prison.

By Amnesty International India coordination group

Fri 8 September, 19.30-20.30hrs.
Behind Amsterdam central station, promenade next to bicycle parking and ferries

Amnesty International India coordination group invites you to join a vigil for political prisoners (BK16, GN Saibaba, Umar Khalid and co-accused). As India hosts G20 this weekend we call on world leaders to urge Indian government to free them all!
There will be parallel actions in Amsterdam, London, Zürich, Berlin and New York!

by Amnesty Bristol / @amnestybristol (Sep 6, 2023)
Bristol and Weston-super-Mare Amnesty group are hosting a vigil on Friday at 7pm for the Bhima Koregaon 16 political prisoners Join us at the Italian Gardens in Weston-super-Mare #FreeBK16

Statement by Amnesty International Switzerland:
G20 IN INDIEN – EIN AUFRUF ZUM GEMEINSAMEN ENGAGEMENT

Read full statement [Swiss-German]

Also read:
● Campaign by Amnesty International: Act now to demand the release of the BK16! (Dec 2022)

NIA asked to submit a chart with details of copies of evidence supplied and yet to be supplied to the accused

NIA asked to submit a chart with details of copies of evidence supplied and yet to be supplied to the accused

Poster by #bakeryprasad

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The National Investigation Agency was directed to comply with the predecessor judge’s Order dated May 23, 2022, directing the it to provide a chart on data of documents.
On Tuesday, a National Investigation (NIA) court of special judge Rajesh Kataria directed the NIA to provide a chart of the data of the cloned copies of seized documents in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad Maoist links and criminal conspiracy case.
The plea is for the NIA to comply with Section 207 (supply of a copy of the police report and other documents to the accused) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
Read more

Also Read:
● What is Section 207 CrPC, an essential piece of the Bhima Koregaon case puzzle? (The Leaflet / Aug 2023)
● NIA gets more time to reply to plea for furnishing copies of evidence to the accused (The Leaflet / July 2023)
● Why Courts Are Ignoring Concerns Of Planted Evidence In The Bhima-Koregaon Prosecution (article14 / Jan 2023)

Book launch of ‘A Life in Poetry’ – VV Rao’s poems / The many ideas behind the birth of poetry

Book launch of ‘A Life in Poetry’ – VV Rao’s poems / The many ideas behind the birth of poetry


Thread by Live Law / @LiveLawIndia (Sep 2, 2023)

Telugu poet and UAPA accused P #VaravaraRao along with his wife Hemlata at the launch of ‘A Life in Poetry’ – the first ever English translation of Rao’s poems. Rao was seated quietly in the audience, as bail conditions don’t permit him to read his poems publicly or be on stage.

@PenguinIndia has published translations of 48 out of nearly 700 poems written by Rao over the course of 60 years.
All poems pre-date his arrest in the #BhimaKoregaon – #ElgarParishad Case

VV Rao’s wife P Hemlata launched the book. She left her home in Hyderabad two years ago and has lived with Rao in Mumbai since then, owing to his bail conditions.
Sr Advs @Ijaising & Mihir Desai, author Jerry Pinto and a couple of others spoke at the launch.

@Ijaising on poetry – There is a connection between law and poetry. The first laws in Greece and Rome were written in poetic form.
On the significance of VV Rao’s bail order – Your case will forever be a beacon of hope to those who demand their right of health in prison.

Jerry Pinto – We do poetry to escape the incarceration called life…
Will there be singing in dark times? Yes, there will be singing in dark times. It will be about the dark times.

Mumbai: ‘When you become the poem itself’

04/09/2023

Mid-day.com / by Hemal Ashar

Words took centre stage at launch of Varavara Rao’s poetry book at the Press Club on Saturday
Varavara Rao’s first anthology of poems translated into English called, ‘Varavara Rao: A Life in Poetry’ was released at a function held at Press Club Azad Maidan, late Saturday evening. The book is edited by N Venugopal and Meena Kandasamy. The book is a collection of poems translated by nine translators from 16 books published between 1968 and 2014.
Read more

The many ideas behind the birth of poetry that floats like a butterfly; and stings like a bee

07/09/2023

Hindustan Times / by Ramu Ramanathan

The turning point of Telugu literary history is 3 and 4 July of 1970. Poets who were invited to speak at the seminar/ poets who were not invited to the seminar/ poets who were going to be felicitated/ poets who were expelled/ poets who were going to boycott/ poets who were to be a member of the executive committee/ poets of all ideologies and -isms
Read more

Also read/watch:
● Tomorrow there won’t be any classes’: Activist Varavara Rao’s poems get an English translation (Scroll.in / by Varavara Rao, N Venugopal & Rohith / Jul 2023)

● Varavara Rao A Live in Poetry

By VIRASAM
Book Launch || Live Laamakan || 13-07-23 || VIRASAM

en / telugu | 2:16:35 | 2023
Watch video

SC adjourns hearing on the dispute over Gautam Navlakha’s place of house arrest by eight weeks

SC adjourns hearing on the dispute over Gautam Navlakha’s place of house arrest by eight weeks

Gautam Navlakha

Supreme Court adjourns hearing on the dispute over Gautam Navlakha’s place of house arrest by eight weeks

01/09/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The Bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and J.B. Pardiwala expressed “reservations” over the grant of house arrest to Navlakha by the predecessor Bench.
Today, the Supreme Court directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file a counter-affidavit on Gautam Navlakha’s plea to change the location of his house arrest.
A division Bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and J.B. Pardiwala adjourned the hearing for eight weeks.
Read more

Supreme Court Doubts Earlier Order Allowing House Arrest For Bhima Koregaon Accused Gautam Navlakha

01/09/2023

Live Law / by Awstika Das

The Supreme Court on Friday doubted its November 2022 order allowing human rights activist and Bhima Koregaon-accused Gautam Navlakha to be released from detention and placed under house arrest on grounds of his deteriorating health. Such an order, the court orally observed, might set the ‘wrong precedent’.
Read more

Video: SC Doubts Earlier Order Allowing House Arrest For Gautam Navlakha

02/09/2023

Live Law / by Anuj Nakade


en | 7:11 | 2013
Watch video

Supreme Court expresses reservations over earlier order to allow plea by Gautam Navlakha for house arrest

01/09/2023

Bar & Bench / by Abhimanyu Hazarika

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and JB Pardiwala orally observed that the order in question did not deal with the merits of the overall case and proceedings against the activist.
The Supreme Court on Friday orally remarked that it may have reservations over its earlier decision to allow the plea filed by Bhima Koregaon violence accused Gautam Navlakha to shift him from jail and place him under house arrest [Gautam Navlakha vs National Investigation Agency and anr].
Read more

Also read:
● NIA opposes Gautam Navlakha’s plea for moving house arrest from Mumbai to Alibag (The Leaflet / May 2023)
● Explainer: As activist Gautam Navlakha is allowed house arrest, what does this actually involve? (Scroll.in / Nov 2022)

What is Section 207 CrPC, an essential piece of the Bhima Koregaon case puzzle?

What is Section 207 CrPC, an essential piece of the Bhima Koregaon case puzzle?

Poster by #bakeryprasad

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

What is the law embedded in Section 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and why does it keep getting invoked in the Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon case?
Sevaral accused in the Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon case have claimed that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has inordinately delayed giving them access to copies of important evidence in the case.
The evidence exists in the form of cloned copies of electronic material purportedly recovered from the accused.
Read more

Also Read:
● NIA gets more time to reply to plea for furnishing copies of evidence to the accused (The Leaflet / July 2023)
● Why Courts Are Ignoring Concerns Of Planted Evidence In The Bhima-Koregaon Prosecution (article14 / Jan 2023)
● Incriminating evidence planted in computers: The Trojan solved the Bhima Koregaon case! (Anchored Narratives / Jan 2023)
● Prison-rights activist Rona Wilson’s hard disk contained malware that allowed remote access (The Caravan / March 2020)

Prakash Ambedkar deposes before Koregaon Bhima panel

Prakash Ambedkar deposes before Koregaon Bhima panel

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

In his affidavit filed before the commission on July 24, Ambedkar had sought an inquiry into the alleged intelligence failure regarding the Koregaon Bhima violence
Dalit leader and president of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) Prakash Ambedkar deposed as a witness before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday.
Read more

Also Read:
● Bhima Koregaon Violence: Four Different Theories, but No Justice in Sight (The Wire / Jan 2022)
● India’s Hindu Nationalist Project Relies on Brutal Repression (Jacobinmag / April 2021)
● Saffron Conspiracy in Bhima Koregaon? – Fact finding report by Rashtra Seva Dal unearths insidious scheme to target Dalits (CJP / Jan 2018)

Koregaon Bhima Commission: Cross examination of IPS officer Nangare Patil concludes

Koregaon Bhima Commission: Cross examination of IPS officer Nangare Patil concludes


Imprisoned Voices. Booklet.

The Indian Express by Chandan Haygunde

During cross-examination by Jamadar, Nangare Patil said he had not visited the Jaystambh prior to January 1, 2018. As per Nangare Patil’s affidavit, there were inputs that some “Dalit Sanghatna” wanted to demolish Jamadar’s house located adjacent to the Jaystambh on January 1, 2018.
The cross-examination of Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Vishwas Nangare Patil, who appeared before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry as a witness, concluded Saturday.
Read more

Also Read:
● Top Investigating Officer Admits Elgar Parishad Event ‘Had No Role’ in Bhima Koregaon Violence (The Wire / Dec 27, 2022)
● Witness Before Probe Panel Accuses Sambhaji Bhide & Milind Ekbote Of Instigating Bhima Koregaon Riots (Live Law / Oct 2021)
● Let’s Remember the Lesson of Bhima Koregaon: Down with the New Peshwai (Sanhati│ by Sudhir Dhawale │ March 2018)
● Why peoples’ coalitions are uniting against Hindutva — the ‘new Peshwai’ (Dailyo.in │ by Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves │ Jan 30, 2018)

Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Shoma Sen’s Plea For Interim Bail On Medical Grounds

Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Shoma Sen’s Plea For Interim Bail On Medical Grounds

Shoma Sen

Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Shoma Sen’s Plea For Interim Bail On Medical Grounds

23/08/2023

Live Law / by Awstika Das

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear an interim bail application filed by English professor and Bhima Koregaon-accused Shoma Sen on grounds of her deteriorating health.
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and SVN Bhatti was hearing a petition challenging a January 17 order of the Bombay High Court, by which it directed Sen to approach the special court trying her case, for bail.
Read more

Supreme Court seeks NIA reply on interim bail for Elgar Parishad accused activist

23/08/2023

Hindustan Times / by Abraham Thomas

A bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and SVN Bhatti issued notice on the application by Shoma Sen and directed NIA to submit its response by October 4, the next date of hearing
The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the response of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on a plea filed by activist Shoma Sen, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, seeking interim bail on account of her deteriorating health.
Read more

Also read:
● “Hopefully waiting” writes Shoma Sen from prison (InSAF India / Jul 2023)

● Shoma Sen moves Supreme Court seeking bail (The Leaflet / April 2023)

SC asks whether Gonsalves and Ferreira judgment “formula” can be applied to Jyoti Jagtap

SC asks whether Gonsalves and Ferreira judgment “formula” can be applied to Jyoti Jagtap

Jyoti Jagtap

Supreme Court asks whether Gonsalves and Ferreira judgment “formula” can be applied to Jyoti Jagtap

22/08/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

While granting bail to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, the Supreme Court had observed that the materials eluded to as part of incriminating evidence against the accused persons cannot justify their continued custody.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court inquired whether the “formula” adopted in granting bail to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira can be applied to the bail plea of anti-caste activist and musical performer, Jyoti Jagtap.
Read more

Does Jyoti Jagtap’s Case Fit `Formula´ in Which Gonsalves an Ferreira Were Granted Bail? Supreme Court Asks

22/08/2023

Live Law / by Awstika Das

Deciding the bail application of activist and Bhima Koregaon-accused Jyoti Jagtap would involve a determination of whether her case ‘fits the formula’ in which the bail pleas of co-accused Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira were decided, the Supreme Court orally observed on Tuesday, while adjourning Jagtap’s bail hearing until September 21.
Read more

On Jyoti Jagtap’s appeal for bail, Supreme Court gives NIA 2 more weeks to respond

22/08/2023

Hindustan Times / by Abraham Thomas

The Supreme Court said that it would assess at the next hearing in September if Jyoti Jagtap’s bail case fits into the formula it had laid down in July
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to respond to the bail request filed by Jyoti Jagtap, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence of 2018, and indicated that it may go by the “formula” laid down in the verdict that led to the grant of bail to two other accused, Vernon and Arun Ferreira, last month.
… Jagtap, who is a member of Kabir Kala Manch, was accused of having links with the banned terrorist organisation Communist Party of India (Maoist) and was denied bail by the Bombay High Court on October 17 last year.
Read more

Also read:
● Gonsalves and Ferreira bail judgment: A step in the right direction but where will we go from here? (The Leaflet / Aug 2023)
● Supreme Court allows respondents to file counter affidavits to bail plea of Jyoti Jagtap (The Leaflet / Jul 2023)
● Inconsistencies in Bail Orders Mean Individual Liberty Is Now the Outcome of Judicial Lottery (The Wire / Oct 2022)

The remedy of bail: From securing liberty to ‘digital jail’

The remedy of bail: From securing liberty to ‘digital jail’

The Leaflet / by Ibad Mushtaq and Akansksha Bishtibad

In the pursuit of justice, the delicate balance between individual rights and societal interests often comes under scrutiny. In the case of Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, their bail conditions, including the demanding round-the-clock location monitoring, have ignited a crucial debate that such stringent surveillance not only infringes upon their fundamental rights to life, liberty and dignity, but also undermines the essence of bail itself— to restore freedom.
Read more

Also read:
● NIA in a quandary as bail condition for mobile phone tethering turns out to be a tug (The Leaflet / Aug 2023)
● PUDR welcomes the release on bail of Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira today, but protests onerous bail conditions (PUDR / Aug 5, 2023)