BK16 – free them all

Truth and dare in Bhima Koregaon

02/10/2023 Asha

The Leaflet / by Susan Abraham

The Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad ‘Maoist’ conspiracy case is a grand experiment with truth where the State is daring the people to stand up for justice.
‘TRUTH or dare’ is a mostly verbal party game requiring two or more players. Players are given the choice between answering a question truthfully, or performing a ‘dare’. The premise is simple: Players take turns asking one another ‘truth or dare?’ If they choose truth, they have to answer a question of the asker’s choosing. If they choose dare, the asker dares them to do something rather than make a confession.
Suppose the State were to subject its citizens to a macabre version of this game by cooking up a conspiracy case and locking up people behind bars. Then tell them that in order to win their freedom, they have to choose the ‘truth’ of the conspiracy or the ‘dare’ to dissent.
This is the absurd logic that plays out when you try to make sense of the Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case.
Read more

Also read:
● Five years of Bhima Koregaon arrests: CDRO marks ‘black day’ (The Leaflet / Jun 2023)

AI Report: India’s exploitation of terrorism financing assessments to target the civil society

26/09/2023 Asha

Amnesty.org / by Amnesty International

The Indian government has exploited the 2010 and 2013 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) assessment reports to supplement its arsenal of counterterrorism and money laundering laws, many of which are routinely used to target civil society organizations and human rights defenders. The briefing paper analyses the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act and highlights the emblematic cases of the crackdown suffered by journalists, academics, human rights activists, and students under these laws since 2010.
…

IMPACT OF UAPA ON INDIA’S NPO SECTOR
(Page 25) … Sections 17 and 40 of UAPA that relate to terrorist funding have also been arbitrarily invoked against 16 human rights activists (BK16) since 2018, nine of whom continue to be detained without trial in the Bhima Koregaon case…
India’s targeting of activists through the misuse of UAPA’s financial powers demonstrates the broader context of the crackdown on dissent in India. For example, in June 2020, after thorough and detailed research, Amnesty International and Citizen Lab uncovered that at least nine other activists who had been calling for the release of the BK16 activists were targeted through a coordinated spyware campaign. Three of them were also targeted with the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, a commercial product only sold to government entities.
Read full report

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

Also read:

● Report: UAPA – CRIMINALISING DISSENT AND STATE TERROR (PUCL / Sep 2022)
Download report

Submission to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom

20/09/2023 Asha

Hrw.org / by Human Rights Watch

“Religious Freedom in India” Submission by Sarah Yager, Washington director, Human Rights Watch
The commission’s focus on religious freedom in India is welcome and timely.
Over the last decade there has been an undeniable increase in the number and frequency of attacks against religious minorities in India, especially Muslims and Christians.
… We have also repeatedly flagged human rights consequences of the government’s 2019 revocation of the constitutional autonomy of India’s only Muslim-majority state, Jammu and Kashmir. Today, four years later, authorities there are still restricting free expression, peaceful assembly, and other basic rights, and regularly shut down the internet. Several journalists and human rights defenders have been arrested on spurious terrorism charges and authorities regularly harass critics, including through use of counterterrorism raids.
Read full submission

NIA asked to submit affidavit that cloned copies of all evidence have been supplied to the accused

18/09/2023 Asha

NIA asked to submit affidavit that cloned copies of all evidence have been supplied to the accused

17/09/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) court also directed the NIA to state in its affidavit that the prosecution would not be relying on any documents other than those for which hard disks have been given to the accused.
On Monday, a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court of special judge Rajesh Kataria directed the NIA to file an affidavit stating that it has provided cloned copies of seized electronic evidence to the accused persons in the Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad Maoist links and criminal conspiracy case.
… The NIA is required to submit the affidavit on the next date of hearing, that is, October 5.
Read more

NIA told to affirm that it has provided cloned copies of evidence to accused persons

18/09/2023

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

A special court directed the agency to file an affidavit, stating that they would not use any electronic evidence except whose copies have been provided.
… the court directed the agency to file an affidavit by October 5 stating that they would not use any electronic evidence except that for which copies have been provided to the accused on hard disks.
Read more

Also Read:
● What is Section 207 CrPC, an essential piece of the Bhima Koregaon case puzzle? (The Leaflet / Aug 2023)
● Why Courts Are Ignoring Concerns Of Planted Evidence In The Bhima-Koregaon Prosecution (article14 / Jan 2023)

The Bhima Koregaon Arrests: The Story So Far

13/09/2023 Asha

Supreme Court Observer / by Joyston D’Souza

Some of the accused activists have finally been granted bail. But charges have not been framed even five years after their arrests.
On 1 January 2018, protests and violence spread across Maharashtra following an attack on a gathering of Dalit persons at Bhima Koregaon. At least one person died and three others were injured. An investigation which began with FIRs lodged against pro-Hindutva leaders then took a baffling turn, with a number of renowned activists being arrested for instigating violence through inflammatory speeches at the event, which is also called Elgar Parishad.
Read more

Also Read:
● Why Courts Are Ignoring Concerns Of Planted Evidence In The Bhima-Koregaon Prosecution (article14 / Jan 2023)
● Bhima Koregaon: Who’s who of those arrested and the developments in the case pertaining to each (The Leaflet / June 2022)

Amnesty International: Join The Vigil For Political Prisoners In India

06/09/2023 Asha

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

05/09/2023 Asha

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)

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

31/08/2023 Asha

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)

Can Fr Stan Swamy’s PIL be the blueprint for justice to thousands of undertrials lodged under UAPA?

18/08/2023 Asha

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

Can the judgment which granted bail to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira form the basis for implementation of the same principles for granting bail to other accused in the Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad case as well as to the other 500 detenues in Jharkhand who are still at the pre- or post-trial stage?
… A public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the late Father Stan Swamy in 2017 in the Jharkhand High Court may serve as a path in the direction of ending incarceration of the disturbingly large number of those held in custody without a trial.
Read more

Also watch/read:
● Video: Vernon v. State of Maharashtra: A Breakthrough in Bail Jurisprudence under the UAPA? (PUCL India / Aug 2023)
● Even after Stan Swamy’s death, the fight to get justice for Jharkhand undertrials is still alive (Scroll.in / Dec 2021)
● In Jharkhand, Scheduled Tribes Still Battle Flimsy Criminal Cases Filed With Little Evidence (IndiaSpend / Oct 2021)
● Public interest litigation filed by Stan Swamy and Xavier Soreng in 2017 (CJP / 2017)
● A study of Undertrials in Jharkhand (Sanhati / by Bagaicha Research Team / Feb 2016)

There’s still hope for journalism: Media veterans on press freedom and technology

15/08/2023 Asha

The News Minute / by TMM Staff

While the speakers at the event expressed concerns about the misuse of technology as experienced in the Bhima Koregaon episode, where malware was used to trap activists, their speeches ended on a positive note.
In December 2019, a year and a half after the arrest of 16 activists in the Bhima Koregaon case, the then editor of the Caravan magazine, Vinod Jose, got a copy of the hard disk of the laptop used by Rona Wilson, from where an ‘incriminating’ email that led to the arrests was ‘found’. Vinod, sitting at a seminar on media freedom and technology at the Freedom Fest – a technology-related event organised by the government of Kerala – spoke of the Caravan’s discovery of a malware that was planted in Rona’s hard disk, which could plant or ferret out any information from the laptop, without his knowledge.
Read more

Also read:
● Police Linked to Hacking Campaign to Frame Indian Activists (Wired.com / June 2022)
● Indian activist charged with terrorism was targeted by hackers linked to prominent cyber espionage attacks, new report finds (The Washington Post / Feb 2022)
● Prison-rights activist Rona Wilson’s hard disk contained malware that allowed remote access (The Caravan / March 2020)

NIA asked to submit affidavit that cloned copies of all evidence have been supplied to the accused

NIA told to affirm that it has provided cloned copies of evidence to accused persons

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

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