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Tag: prison conditions

Activists seek bail for political prisoners

Activists seek bail for political prisoners

The Hindu / by Staff Reporter

“COVID-19 outbreak an occasion to look at overcrowded prisons in country.”
A group of activists and intellectuals has sought bail or parole for political prisoners lodged in various jails.
In a letter to the Central and State governments, eminent persons such as writers Arundhati Roy, K. Satchidanandan and Meena Kandasamy, journalist B.R.P. Bhaskar and academics Dilip Menon and Benjamin Zachariah pointed out that the COVID-19 outbreak was also an occasion to look at the overcrowded prisons in the country.
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INTELLECTUALS APPEAL FOR RELEASE OF PRISONERS

30/03/2020

Kashimr Times / by KT News Service

New Delhi: About two dozen intellectuals, writers and academics of the country have made an urgent appeal to the government to ease the over-crowded prisons in view of the outbreak of Covid19 and also in keeping with the recent Supreme Court directive. They have sought release on bail or parole of at least some of the prisoners including political detenues from across the country.
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ACADEMICS SEND OPEN LETTER SEEKING BAIL FOR VARAVARA RAO, SUDHA BHARADWAJ

31/03/2020

The New Indian Express / by Prajanma Das

The Supreme Court has already directed the state governments to consider granting bail to remand prisoners, accused of committing crimes punishable with a maximum of seven years imprisonment.
Former Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba, Poet Varavara Rao, Dr Shoma Sen, Sudha Bharadwaj and several others including Padma and Veeramony in Tamil Nadu are in prison — either awaiting trial or are political prisoners of the state.
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COVID-19: Set Up Panel to Consider Release of Prisoners on Parole, says SC to States, Uts

COVID-19: Set Up Panel to Consider Release of Prisoners on Parole, says SC to States, Uts


Drawing by Arun Fereirra

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The apex court said the prisoners convicted of or charged with offences having jail term of up to seven years can be given parole to decongest jails.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed all states and Union Territories to set up high-level committees to determine the class of prisoners who could be released on parole for four to six weeks to avoid overcrowding in jails so as to safeguard against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Arun Ferreira: Our situation worse after NIA took over case

Arun Ferreira: Our situation worse after NIA took over case


Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Free Press Journal / by Bhavna Uchil

Says they’re holed up in Taloja jail barracks with no space even for chargesheets.
Mumbai: Activist Arun Ferreira, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, told a National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court that the situation (of the accused) has worsened after NIA took over the case.
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Rona Wilson’s hard disk contained malware that allowed remote access

Rona Wilson’s hard disk contained malware that allowed remote access

The Caravan / by Martand Kaushik and Anjeneya Sivan

On 17 April 2018, the Pune Police raided the Delhi home of Rona Wilson, a noted prison-rights activist, and arrested him for his alleged role in the violence at the Bhima Koregaon memorial in January that year. A few months later, the police claimed that it had found a letter on the hard disk of Wilson’s computer that contained details of a “naxal” plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and “overthrow the government.”
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Poor Medical Care for Prisoners Explains Why Number of Custodial Deaths Is Only Rising

Poor Medical Care for Prisoners Explains Why Number of Custodial Deaths Is Only Rising


Drawing by Arun Ferreire

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

In 2018, 1,845 people died while incarcerated. That’s the highest number India has seen so far.
Mumbai: “I would see this one prison inmate being brought to the hospital every day for an entire week, and each time turned away. The escort police would invariably walk in around 2:30-3 pm, over an hour after the OPD (out-patient department) hours, and no doctor would be available to treat patients then. The inmate went untreated for over a week,” recalls a young doctor at Maharashtra’s state-run JJ hospital.
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Letters from jail: Elgaar Parishad detainees pen thoughts and experiences

Letters from jail: Elgaar Parishad detainees pen thoughts and experiences

Paintings by Arun Ferreira

The Indian Express / by Seema Chishti

The letters, which The Indian Express has access to, reveal a slice of their lives behind bars. Some talk about when they can possibly see the gallows, some are abstract ruminations on life and freedom, while some dwell on the circumstances of their arrest and merits of the case.
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Elgar Parishad case accused VV Rao, 82, hospitalised in Pune before hearing

Elgar Parishad case accused VV Rao, 82, hospitalised in Pune before hearing

Hindustan Times / by Shalaka Shinde

He was discharged on Wednesday evening.
Varavara Rao, 82, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, has been hospitalised on Wednesday when he was scheduled for a hearing in the case.
As per protocol, the accused are brought to a lock-up at the Shivajinagar district court premises and then brought to the specific court they are scheduled to appear in.
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India Justice Report 2019 shows country’s failing criminal justice system

India Justice Report 2019 shows country’s failing criminal justice system


Pic: Arun Ferreira

Sabrgangindia.in / by Sanchita Kadam

India has only 1 police personnel for every 663 individuals. Most states and Union Territories (UTs) spend less than Rs. 100 per prisoner per day.
The report also states that in India, per capita public spending on legal aid is only Rs. 0.75 per annum. In a country where over 1.25 billion population is eligible for free legal aid, the per capita spending of 75 paise is quite a disgrace.
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Rights are relative in New India: some have them, some cannot

Rights are relative in New India: some have them, some cannot

The Telegraph / by The Editorial Board

No country that claims to uphold human rights deprives prisoners of the right to self-improvement or the peaceful habit of reading. Yet Shalini Gera, an activist who went to visit the lawyer, Sudha Bharadwaj, imprisoned in Pune’s Yerwada jail since October 2018 for alleged links with the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in the – rather enigmatic – Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, had her birthday gift of two books returned.
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Pendyala tag allows daughters to meet Varavara Rao in jail

Pendyala tag allows daughters to meet Varavara Rao in jail

The Times of India / by Srinath Vudali

Hyderabad: Three daughters of Pendyala Varavara Rao, key accused in the Elgar Parishad case, are happy they didn’t drop their surname after marriage.
As luck would have it, the decision to retain the “Pendyala” name has helped them meet Varavara Rao, who is lodged in Yerawada jail in Pune for the past one year.
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