CRPP – free them all

We don’t want more Bhima Koregaon bogus conspiracy case / Condemn the NIA’s raid in Andhra-Telangana

03/10/2023 Asha

Condemn the NIA’s raid in Andhra-Telangana to suppress democratic voices critical of war of corporate plunder

06/10/2023

Countercurrrents / by Forum Against Corporatization and Militarization

On 2nd October, 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted raids across various locations belonging to various democratic and pro-people activists in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The organisations that have been targeted, include, Coordination of Democratic Rights Organizations (CDRO), Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (AP CLC), Chaitanya Mahila Sangam (CMS), Pragatisheela Karmika Samakya (PKS), Patriotic Democratic Movement (PDM), Praja Kala Mandali (PKM), Vasantha Meghum, Virasam (RWA), Indian Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL), Kula Nirmulana Porata Samiti (Struggle Committee for Caste Annihilation; KNPS), Amarula Bandhu Mitrula Sangham (ABMS), Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) and Human Rights Forum (HRF).
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We don’t want more Bhima Koregaon bogus conspiracy case in the name of National Security

03/10/2023

Asianspeaks.com / by Campaign Against State Repression (CASR)

“In the overall situation in India, no form of democratic assertion is left untouched by the NIA’s repression in the name of Maoist links, whether they be organizations fighting for the rights of minorities, anti-caste organizations like KNPS, women’s rights organizations like the CMS or even Gandhian or Marxist-Leninist organizations. All forms of democratic assertions are under threat in this current spate of repression…”

Statement By Campaign Against State Repression

CASR STRONGLY CONDEMN THE NIA RAID IN TELENGANA AND ANDHRA PRADESH
In the early hours of 2nd October, 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided 62 different locations in the states of Andhra Pradesh (53) and Telangana (9) as part of their recent string of raids all over the country against democratic rights organizations.
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NIA Conducts Coordinated Raids on Rights Activists Across 62 Locations in Andhra, Telangana

03/10/2023

The Wire / Sukanya Shantha

The raids were in connection with the 2021 Munchingiputtu CPI (Maoist) conspiracy case. Devices and literature belonging to functionaries and lawyers of the Indian Association of People’s Lawyer and Human Rights Forum, along with various other rights bodies were seized.
Officials of the National Investigating Agency (NIA) arrived in groups of four and five in 62 locations across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on October 2, in coordinated raids at the homes of human rights activists and researchers.
The raid teams – comprising of NIA officers from Delhi and the local police – arrived between 5.30 am and 6 am on the day, and stayed at the locations till afternoon.
Read more

Also read:
● Chronology Samajhiye: 5 Days, 4 Agencies Under Modi Govt Control Target Opposition, Journalists, Activists (The Wire | Soumashree Sarkar | Oct 6, 2023)
● Blatant use of UAPA by Telangana Police to suppress dissenting voices (Countercurrents / June 2023)
● Telangana Govt to ‘Drop’ UAPA Case Against Prof Haragopal, Sudha Bharadwaj, 150 Others (The Wire / June 2023)

Blatant use of UAPA by Telangana Police to suppress dissenting voices / Arbitrary FIRs

21/06/2023 Asha

Blatant use of UAPA by Telangana Police to suppress dissenting voices

21/06/2023

Countercurrents.org / by Campaign Against State Repression (CASR)

The draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has once again been invoked, this time in Tadwai, Telangana against an astonishing number of 152 activists and intellectuals, which includes retired Prof. G. Haragopal, Prof. Gaddam Laxman and Prof. Padmaja Shaw. What is more ridiculous and serious at the same time is that Late Justice H. Suresh also finds mention in the accused list. The FIR has come to light only after People’s Democratic Movement president Chandramouli applied for bail and FIRs filed against him were retrieved by the police where the names of the 152 activists mentioned above were also included.
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Dead judge, 151 others in Telangana police FIR

21/06/2023

TOI / by Srinath Vudali

Former Bombay HC judge H Suresh, who died in 2020, and another dead man were among 152 people that Telangana police had charged last year under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for their alleged Maoist links.
Following a backlash from civil rights outfits , who pointed out that two of the accused had died long before the case was registered, the Telangana government directed police to drop six prominent people from the FIR.
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Arbitrary FIRs on Social Activists

19/06/2023

Statement by National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)

click to enlarge

Dead wrong

21/06/2023

TOI / by TOI Editorials

Telangana charging the deceased with UAPA brings to life how the most severe laws are casually misused by govts:
The Telangana case in which police charged two people dead for two years under the anti-terror law UAPA is a classic example of the casual misuse of one of India’s most stringent laws. The data is damning. Analysis of NCRB data by various experts show the conviction rate of people charged under UAPA is below 3%.
Read more

Also read:
● Telangana Govt to ‘Drop’ UAPA Case Against Prof Haragopal, Sudha Bharadwaj, 150 Others (The Wire / June 17, 2023)
● Activists Haragopal, Sudha Bharadwaj, 150 Others Booked Under UAPA Last August; Accused Unaware (The Wire / June 16, 2023)
● Report: UAPA – CRIMINALISING DISSENT AND STATE TERROR (PUCL / Sep 2022) Download report
● The Govt is out to silence Dissenters through Arrests: Justice Hosbet Suresh (Sabrangindia / Oct 2018)

Telangana Govt to ‘Drop’ UAPA Case Against Prof Haragopal, Sudha Bharadwaj, 150 Others

16/06/2023 Asha

Telangana Govt to ‘Drop’ UAPA Case Against Prof Haragopal, Sudha Bharadwaj, 150 Others

17/06/2023

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Chief minister of Telangana, K. Chandrashekar Rao, is said to have inquired about the case with the state police chief and asked him if it can be diluted.
The Telangana government is said to have decided not to pursue the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case filed against Prof Haragopal, Sudha Bharadwaj, and 150 others after chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao directed the state police chief to “drop” the case, The Hindu reported.
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Work of fiction by police, says Professor Haragopal on UAPA charges against him, 151 others

17/06/2023

The News Minute / by IANS

The former professor of political science was reacting to the booking of a case under UAPA by Tadvai police of Mulugu district last year.
Human rights activist and former University of Hyderabad professor, G. Haragopal, who, along with 151 others, were booked by the Telangana Police under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for alleged links with Maoists, said on Friday that they had no information why the action against them was taken.
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KCR intervenes to drop UAPA charges against rights activists

17/06/2023

The Statesman / by Statesman News Service

The move came in the wake of outrage of outrage over registration of cases against human rights activist Prof Haragopal and 151 others under the the draconian law.
Following an outrage over registration of cases against human rights activist Prof Haragopal and 151 others by Telangana Police under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao directed the state DGP Anjani Kumar to withdraw the draconian law.
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Activists Haragopal, Sudha Bharadwaj, 150 Others Booked Under UAPA Last August; Accused Unaware

16/06/2023

The Wire / by Sumit Jha

The Telangana Police had registered the case in August 2022 accusing them of conspiring to ‘take over the power of the democratically elected government at gunpoint’. The issue came to light only on Thursday, June 15.
… Prominent among those named in the FIR, apart from Prof Haragopal, Prof Padmaja Shaw of Osmania University (OU), Telangana Civil Liberties Committee President Prof Gaddam Laxman, Indian Association of People’s Lawyers’ Justice (Retd) H Suresh, activist Sudha Bharadwaj, human rights lawyer Surendra Gadling, and activist Arun Ferreira.
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Telangana Police filed charges under UAPA against 152

16/06/2023

The Statesman / by Statesman News Service

However, the people, including two professors, named in the FIR were unaware of the charges under UAPA until the matter came to light during another trial.
… The charges under the UAPA were brought against the 152 accused after the police carried out combing operations on 19 August, 2022 after receiving a tip off that the Maoists were holding a meeting at Berelli village. When the police reached a temporary shelter, the Maoists escaped into a dense forest. The police seized some Maoist literature and kit bags on the spot and the names of Prof Haragopal and Padmaja Shaw, Prof Gaddam Laxman, Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira were apparently found in the literature left behind.
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Also read:
● The UAPA Versus Khurram Parvez, an Extreme Law Versus a Rights Defender (The Wire / June 2023)
● Report: UAPA – CRIMINALISING DISSENT AND STATE TERROR (PUCL / Sep 2022) Download report
● Telangana govt bans Revolutionary Writers Association, 15 other orgs (Siasat / April 2021)
● Andhra govt, Centre ‘collude’ to repeat Bhima Koregaon type case against rights activists (counterview.net / April 2021)
● The Govt is out to silence Dissenters through Arrests: Justice Hosbet Suresh (Sabrangindia / Oct 2018)

Hany Babu approached Bombay High Court seeking regular bail

13/04/2022 Asha

by Bar & Bench (April 13):
Bhima Koregaon accused Hany Babu has approached #BombayHighCourt seeking regular bail after it was rejected by the Mumbai #NIA Court.

No bail; ‘prima facie evidence Hany Babu part of Maoist outfit’: NIA Court

22/02/2022

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

“The same can be said to be sufficient to prima facie establish that the applicant was instrumental for the release of convict G N Saibaba, who was convicted for the activities of the CPI (M),” special Judge Dinesh E Kothalikar said in the detailed order made available on Monday.
IN ITS detailed order rejecting bail to Delhi University associate professor Hany Babu, a special court has said that there is prima facie evidence that he was ‘actively involved’ in activities of banned organisation, CPI (Maoist).
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For the Government, COVID Is the Perfect Excuse to Worsen Conditions for Political Prisoners

20/01/2022 Asha

The Wire / by Allan Shuaib

Human rights abuses against imprisoned activists have been easy to cover up in the names of ‘quarantine’ and ‘isolation’.
To be jailed for political activity is an abomination. According to Luis Jiménez de Asúa, a Spanish jurist, “Political prisoners are people who have been incarcerated for working for revolutionary change and for the betterment of society.” Countless people have been imprisoned for criticising and working against governments.
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Also read:
● CONDEMN THE SOLITARY CONFINEMENT AND CONTINUING HARASSMENT OF THE BHIMA KOREGAON ACCUSED (PUDR / Oct 2021)

Rona Wilson’s iPhone Infected With Pegasus Spyware, Says New Forensic Report

17/12/2021 Asha

Rona Wilson’s iPhone Infected With Pegasus Spyware, Says New Forensic Report

17/12/2021

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Arsenal Consulting was engaged by Wilson’s defence lawyers to study the electronic evidence submitted against him in the Elgar Parishad case.
Rona Wilson, a prisoners’ rights activist and academic based in Delhi, was a victim of both surveillance and incriminating document delivery for close to a year before his arrest on June 6, 2018, according to a new digital forensics report.
Wilson, originally from Kerala and who continued with his social activism work in Delhi, was one of the first persons to be arrested in the Elgar Parishad case.
Read more

Phone of Indian activist jailed on terrorism charges was infected with Pegasus spyware, new analysis finds

17/12/2021

The Washington Post / by Niha Masih

A smartphone belonging to jailed Indian activist Rona Wilson was infiltrated using NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware before his arrest, according to a new forensic analysis by Amnesty International’s Security Lab that reignites questions about the use of malware attacks against dissidents and government critics in India.
The analysis by Amnesty showed that two backups of an iPhone 6s belonging to Wilson, who has been in jail on terrorism charges since June 2018, had digital traces showing infection by the Pegasus surveillance tool, which its developer, the Israeli cybersecurity firm NSO Group, has said has been licensed only to government agencies.
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Pegasus spyware ‘found on phone of jailed critic of Narendra Modi’

17/12/2021

The Guardian / by Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Michael Safi

Analysis of Rona Wilson’s phone found evidence it was infected with NSO Group spyware three months before arrest
The Indian government’s case against Rona Wilson, a jailed Indian activist and critic of Narendra Modi’s administration, is expected to face new scrutiny following allegations that his mobile phone was hacked using Israeli-made spyware just months before his controversial arrest.
Read more

Also read:
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)
● They were accused of plotting to overthrow the Modi government. The evidence was planted, a new report says (Washington Post / Feb 2021)
● Prison-rights activist Rona Wilson’s hard disk contained malware that allowed remote access (The Caravan / March 2020)

Father of Rona Wilson, activist jailed in Elgar Parishad case, passes away

19/08/2021 Asha

Father of Rona Wilson, activist jailed in Elgar Parishad case, passes away

19/08/2021

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Wilson had last met him in April 2018 when he had visited Kerala. His lawyers will be approaching the court seeking temporary bail so that he can travel to his home for the final rites.
Father of jailed activist Rona Wilson, who was arrested in 2018 over his alleged involvement in the Elgar Parishad case, passed away on Wednesday at his residence in Alappuzha. He was 84.
Read more

Jailed activist Rona Wilson’s father passes away

19/08/2021

Sabrang India / by Adeeti Singh

Jacob Wilson, father of Rona Wilson, breathed his last on August 18, in the absence of his son who is imprisoned in the Bhima Koregaon violence case since 2018. He was reportedly not keeping well, but refused hospitalisation.
Many other accused persons in the Bhima Koregaon case have experienced similar loss and grief.
Read more

Also read:
▪ In Bhima-Koregaon Case, More Damning Signs of Planted Evidence. A new report from a US-based digital forensics company has said a hacker planted 22 “incriminating” files in activist Rona Wilson’s computer. (article 14, April 2021)
▪ From the Other Side of the Bars – Rona Wilson’s quiet commitment to prisoners’ rights (The Caravan, March 2019)

They say, ‘Truth will finally prevail’. But how long is it going to take? – Anthology of writings by the late Stan Swamy

03/08/2021 Asha

Article14 / by Stan Swamy

Exclusive excerpts from ‘I Am Not A Silent Spectator’, an anthology of writings by the late Father Stan Swamy, Jesuit sociologist and at 84 the oldest accused, when he died on 5 July 2021 after nine months in custody in the Bhima-Koregaon case. He writes about his life with Adivasis & their struggles against injustice, & the case against him and more.
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I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach.

An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection

Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages

Access a free PDF copy of the book here

Parliament panel to hold meeting on data security / Shah alleged report was released to cause disruption

21/07/2021 Maya

Parliament panel to hold meeting on data security and privacy on July 28

21/07/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology will question officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on July 28 in connection with reports about the illegal surveillance using Pegasus spyware, ANI reported.
… In November 2019, BJP MPs opposed when the standing committee wanted to discuss the matter, according to The Hindu. In a later meeting, the panel met 17 individuals representing a platform called the “Pegasus Targeted Persons”. They included human rights activist Bela Bhatia, Dalit activist and Bhima Koregaon case accused Anand Teltumbde, Jagdalpur Legal Aid group member Shalini Gera, Chattisgarh-based civil rights activist Alok Shukla and human rights activist Jagdish Meshram.
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Report on Pegasus ‘by the disrupters for the obstructers’, says Home Minister Amit Shah

19/07/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday dismissed an investigation pointing to the use of the Pegasus hacking software to spy on journalists, activists and Opposition leaders in India, calling it “a report by the disrupters for the obstructers”.
… On Sunday, The Wire revealed the names of dozens of journalists and activists on the list, including its own founder-editors Siddharth Vardarajan and MK Venu, The Hindu’s Vijaita Singh, the Hindustan Times’ Shishir Gupta, as well as scholars and activists on the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners and relatives, lawyers and friends of those arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case and the accused themselves.
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Telangana govt bans Revolutionary Writers Association, 15 other orgs

23/04/2021 Maya

Siasat / by Yunus Y Lasania

The Telangana government on Friday banned 16 organisations, including the Revolutionary Writers Association, known as Virasam, claiming that these are frontal bodies of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), and are engaged in “tactics” that “wage war against the state”. The order was passed by chief secretary Somesh Kumar, with effect from March 30 this year.
… The Government Order also clearly states that the organisations are also being banned for demanding the release of Prof. GN Sai Baba, Rona Wilson, and writer Vara Vara Rao (who is from Virasam), who are all currently in prison with regard to the Elgar Parishad case, on allegations of conspiring to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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Also read: Andhra govt, Centre ‘collude’ to repeat Bhima Koregaon type case against rights activists (Counterview, April 2021)