Mahesh Raut – Page 13 – free them all

1.000 Taloja Jail inmates, including some BK case prisoners, have COVID-like symptoms, say families

02/08/2020 Rani

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

COVID-19, Political Prisoners, and the Overcrowding of Prisons

03/08/2020

Jurist / by Abhishek Chakravarty and Abhijit Rajkhowa

Barely a few months after news broke about a novel virus with the potential for a global pandemic, COVID-19 brought the entire world to a grinding halt … The virus has mercilessly affected all sections of our society whether rich or poor, young or old. Now the virus knocks at the door of a highly vulnerable group of people whose choices are limited – prisoners.
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1.000 Taloja Jail inmates, including some BK case prisoners, have COVID-like symptoms, say families

02/08/2020

Firstpost / by Parth MN

Anand Teltumbde’s family is anxiously awaiting his test results. The high court directed the state to inform the family on 1 August.
When Monali Raut spoke to her imprisoned brother Mahesh last week, it got her a bit worried. “He said almost half the prisoners in Taloja Central Prison have been suffering from flu, cough or cold in the past week,” she said.
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Mahesh Raut moves Bombay High Court for COVID-19 test

29/07/2020 Rani

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

The youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, Mahesh Raut, 33, moved the Bombay High Court on Tuesday seeking that he be tested for COVID-19 as he has all the symptoms. Mr. Raut was arrested on June 6, 2018 and is lodged at Taloja Central jail.
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Another Birthday In Jail For Youngest Bhima-Koregaon Accused

01/07/2020 Rani

Article 14 / by Chitrangada Choudhury

Adivasi rights defender, a former fellow of a prestigious prime ministerial programme, and son of a police official, Mahesh Raut is the youngest of the ‘Bhima-Koregaon 11’, accused of spreading Maoist ideology and encouraging ‘unlawful activities’. He’s been in jail without trial for two years.
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Chhattisgarh PUCL Calls for the Immediate Roll Back of the Undeclared Emergency

25/06/2020 Rani

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

By People’s Union for Civil Liberties – Chhattisgarh

Release All Political Prisoners!
Repeal Draconian Laws!
Stop Gagging the Media!

June 25th, 2020: On this day in 1975, the then-Indian Government imposed the State of Emergency in India, suspending all fundamental rights and commencing one of the darkest periods of Indian democracy. Today, after a span of forty-five years, we the people of India find ourselves in a similar situation, living in a de facto state of emergency, which has not been officially declared, where scores of ordinary citizens to who dared to criticize the government are being arbitrarily arrested under draconian laws meant only for rarest cases of international terror. The Chhattisgarh chapter of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties is observing this day as the Anti-Emergency Day –to demand the release of arrested human rights workers, and to renew our pledge to uphold the Constitution of India, with all its promises of freedom and equality, in its true spirit. …

Citing ‘Inhuman Treatment’ of 11 Activists, Brinda Karat Writes to Amit Shah [read letter]

21/06/2020 Rani

cpim.org / by CPI(M) Central Committee Office

We are herewith releasing the full text of the letter addressed to the Home Minister, Amit Shah by CPI(M) Polit Bureau Member, Brinda Karat. This pertains to the inhuman treatment of human rights activists arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case. The letter was sent today.
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Video: Justice for Mahesh Raut

17/06/2020 Rani

7:27min | 2020

By friends of Mahesh #freemahesh

Mahesh Raut, our brother and friend, is in jail for over 2 years. For defending democracy, in his home district, Gadchiroli. He deserves to be free.
This video is an attempt to present the real picture which paid media won’t show you.
Watch video

To dissent is not a crime! Concerned citizens call for the release of activists on humanitarian grounds

16/06/2020 Rani

Indian Cultural Forum / by ICF Team

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned about the health of 11 respected fellow citizens:
1. Mr. Varavara Rao
2. Ms. Sudha Bhardwaj
3. Ms. Shoma Sen
4. Mr. Anand Teltumbde
5. Mr. Gautam Navlakha
6. Mr. Arun Ferreira
7. Mr. Vernon Gonsalvez
8. Mr. Surendra Gadling
9. Mr. Mahesh Raut
10. Mr. Sudhir Dhawale
11. Mr. Rona Wilson
These activists, many of them eminent scholars, writers and poets, have worked for the welfare of India’s poorest and most marginalised people over decades. Yet they have been turned into politcal prisoners and incarcerated. They have not been granted bail despite the fact that in the prisons of Maharashtra where they are being detained, some inmates have died and many others have tested positive for COVID-19.
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Things Getting Really Bad in Overcrowded Maharashtra Prisons

16/06/2020 Rani

Newsclick / by Parth MN

Even after 2 deceased inmates were found COVID-19 positive, testing is not being done in Taloja where rights activists, mostly 60+, arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case have been lodged.
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OF 269 PRISON INMATES WHO TESTED POSITIVE IN MAHARASHTRA, 115 RECOVERED

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

As of June 13, 17, 695 screenings and 1681 swab tests were conducted in 10 Central Prisons in Maharashtra and in the Additional Director General, Prisons (ADGP) office of which 269 tested positive, 115 recovered and four died, the Bombay High Court was informed on Monday.
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The Day Justice Hosbet Suresh Was Threatened With Arrest

16/06/2020 Rani

The Wire / by Susan Abraham

The police’s relentless pursuit of human rights activists in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence did not spare judges either.
The Bhima Koregaon case, in which 11 prominent human rights activists, lawyers and academics languish behind bars, that too during a pandemic, has now become the template for similar arrests taking place in different parts of the country 2014 under the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah regime.
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