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Tag: Gautam Navlakha

UN Bodies pass joint statement on Covid-19 in prisons and other closed settings

UN Bodies pass joint statement on Covid-19 in prisons and other closed settings


Drawing by Arun Ferreira

The Leaflet / by Ujjaini Chatterji

The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes, the World Health Organization, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights have taken note of the spread of Covid-19 in prisons and other closed settings. In this regard, they have issued a statement urging political leaders to undertake the necessary public health measures to counter and mitigate this threat.
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MAHARASHTRA RELEASES 7,200 PRISONERS TO CURB OVERCROWDING

17/05/2020

The New Indian Express / by PTI

In a bid to decongest state jails due to coronavirus outbreak, the state prisons department has so far released over 7,200 prisoners across the state on either temporary bail or parole.
PUNE: Authorities in Maharashtra have released over 7,200 prisoners so far to check overcrowding in jails amid the coronavirus pandemic, officials said on Sunday.
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INDIA DECONTESTS ITS JAILS TO CHECK CORONAVIRUS BUT POLITICAL PRISONERS ARE STILL LOCKED UP

14/05/2020

Quartz India / by Manavi Kapur

Overcrowded Indian prisons have become hotbeds of coronavirus cases.
In March, India’s supreme court recognised this risk—total occupancy of India’s jails standing at 115% —and set down guidelines for releasing some prisoners on parole and bail.
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The BK16

The BK16


All the people who are the focus of this blog have been accused of being associated with what has come to be known as the “Bhima-Koregaon” or “Elgar Parishad” case.
To mark the bi-centenary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon in 2018, more than 200 Dalit, Bahujan, Ambedkarite and other organisations came together. The coalition organised the hugely successful and massively attended event, ‘Elgar Parishad’ (loud declaration committee), on December 31, 2017 in Shaniwarwada in Pune, once the seat of Peshwai power. This event, as per the organisers, was organised to expose the Navi Peshwai — an era of increasing repression on movements, alienation of minorities, increasing caste atrocities, anti-poor development policies and more.

Charges against the Activists

● That they had made inflammatory speeches at the Elgar Parishad.
● That they are acting on behalf of, or are members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoists).
● That they were plotting to assassinate the Prime Minister.

Lack of Evidence

As it turns out, most of those arrested were not even at the Elgar Parishad event, the charges about the links to Maoists entirely shown to be based on fabricated evidence and so far the charges about the assassination plot had not even a single piece of evidence produced.

The Case of the Reliance Workers Satyanarayan Karrela, Babushankar Vanguri, 
Shankar Gunde, Ravi Marampelli and Saidulu Singapanga

The BK16: Who is …?

Who is Varavara Rao?
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Who is Sudha Bharadwaj?
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Who is Sudhir Dhawale?
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Who is Arun Ferreira?
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Who is Mahesh Raut?
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Who is Shoma Sen?
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Who is Rona Wilson?
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Who is Gautam Navlakha?
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Who is Anand Teltumbde?
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Who is Hany Babu?
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Who are the Kabir Kala Manch artistes Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor?
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SC single bench on bail pleas must lead to speedy justice for Safoora Zargar, Sudha Bharadwaj

SC single bench on bail pleas must lead to speedy justice for Safoora Zargar, Sudha Bharadwaj

The Print / by Maneesh Chhibber

Supreme Court’s move to let single judge benches hear bail pleas must not end up like govt pronouncements – good to read about but with little impact on citizens’ lives.
It took a pandemic of the scale of Covid-19 for India’s Supreme Court to finally decide that single-judge benches will hear special leave petitions, or SLPs, arising out of bail orders in cases where the maximum punishment is up to seven years.
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Video: Joint Opposition Memorandum to President of India [full statement]

Video: Joint Opposition Memorandum to President of India [full statement]


en | 3:06 min | 2020

By Communist Party of India – Marxist Leninist-Liberation

Leaders of CPIML, CPI(M), CPI, AIFB, RSP, RJD, LJD and VCK have written a Joint Opposition Memorandum to the President of India demanding an end to the ongoing witch-hunt and release of all political prisoners in view of their enhanced health risk and to wage a united fight against Covid19.
Watch video

Joint Opposition Memorandum to President of India

11 May 2020
Release all political prisoners-
Dissenting Voices
Activists of Peoples Movements
and Opposition leaders
End Overcrowding in India’s Jails

Read full statement below

Lockdown Used to Attack Dissenters Under UAPA: UK Diaspora Demands Immediate Release

Lockdown Used to Attack Dissenters Under UAPA: UK Diaspora Demands Immediate Release

Newsclick / by Newsclick Report

The statement mentions the arrests of journalists Masrat Zahra and Peerzada Ashiq, student activists Safoora Zargar, Meeran Haider and Sharjeel Imam, civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha, Dalit Marxist scholar Anand Teltumbde, amongst others.
The Indian diaspora in the United Kingdom have released a statement condemning the Modi Government’s continuous attack against students, activists, journalists and all other dissenters of the government even as India reels under a ruthless lockdown to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.
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Why Activists Want Prisons Decontested

Why Activists Want Prisons Decontested

Newsclick / by Subhash Gatade

The Supreme Court also wants to reduce the Covid-19 risks posed by overcrowded jails, but there is little progress so far.
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COVID Treat in Jails Is Real,
Ailing Inmates Must Be Released Now

The Quint / by People’s Union for Democratcic Rights

PUDR expresses apprehensions over the health status of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha who surrendered before the NIA in Mumbai and Delhi respectively on 14 April 2020. Both are implicated in the Bhima Koregaon case of January 2018 in which eleven human rights defenders have been arrested.
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Misuse of UAPA by Union Government During COVID-19 Pandemic

Misuse of UAPA by Union Government During COVID-19 Pandemic

Newsclick / Press Release by Activists and Citizens of India

Condemning Misuse of UAPA by Union Government during COVID-19 Pandemic and Standing in Solidarity with Individuals & Civil Society Organisations Experiencing Targeted Crackdown
We, a group of activists and citizens of India, express our deep concern over the recent arrests on the false pretext that have been taking place using the regressive Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by the Union government.
Read full statement

Covid-19 Pandemic: Crackdown On Dissent Putting Lives At Immediate Risk In India

Covid-19 Pandemic: Crackdown On Dissent Putting Lives At Immediate Risk In India


Campaign poster, 2019

By Amnesty International India

The Government of India’s ongoing crackdown on dissent and free speech is leading to the arrest of journalists, activists, lawyers and students under repressive laws and being sent to overcrowded prisons which are potential COVID-19 hotspots. This crackdown during the pandemic puts their lives at immediate risk, said Amnesty International India today.
Read full statement

MORE THAN 300 ACTIVISTS CONDEMN ARRESTS, HARASSMENT OF ANTI-CAA PROTESTERS

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

‘We have reasons to believe that the investigation is being (mis)used to crackdown on political dissent,’ write the signatories. …
These arrests seem to mark the continuation of a disturbing trend: the BJP government’s practice of covering up the violence committed by Hindutva groups by blaming democratic activists and citizens for the same, and its general disregard for the lives of citizens. Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde have been arrested over the Bhima Koregaon violence of 2018, even as its real perpetrators such as Milind Ekbote (a leader of local Hindutva groups) roam free.
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PUDR: Release Vulnerable Prisoners Now!

PUDR: Release Vulnerable Prisoners Now!

By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)

PUDR expresses apprehensions over the health status of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha …
Both Prof. Anand Teltumbde and Mr. Gautam Navlakha were interrogated by the NIA and have been sent to judicial custody. It has come to light that one of the officers of the NIA, Mumbai has tested positive for Covid-19 in this period. Anand Teltumbde was subsequently tested for suspected exposure and his report is negative for Covid-19.
Read full statement

IN PARALLEL WITH THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC, WE NOW HAVE A PANDEMIC OF ARRESTS

26/04/2020

The Wire/ by Pamela Philipose

Lockdown – the word that best describes our present physical and mental state – has now acquired a vicious new meaning. As if in parallel to the COVID-19 pandemic, we now have a pandemic of arrests, with prison gates clanging shut on those marked by the state as anti-nationals.
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Prominent Personalities: The Democratic Republic of India seems to be moving into a coma

Prominent Personalities: The Democratic Republic of India seems to be moving into a coma

National Herald / by NH Political Bureau

Thirteen days after political activists Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the UAPA, in connection with Bhima Koregaon case, as many as 52 prominent personalities including activists, intellectuals and MPs have issued a statement in support of the jailed activists.
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