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Video: Why an 83-year-old Indian Jesuit – Fr. Stan Swamy – is still in prison

Video: Why an 83-year-old Indian Jesuit – Fr. Stan Swamy – is still in prison


en | 40min | 2021

By America – The Jesuit Review

For almost six months, 84-year-old Stan Swamy, S.J., has been held in a Mumbai jail on charges of sedition and contravention of India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention Act) (U.A.P.A.) of 1967. Repeated requests for his release on humanitarian grounds have been denied. In this episode of Behind the Story, America editor Ricardo da Silva, S.J., is joined by two Jesuits who know Fr. Swamy—Xavier Jeyaraj, S.J., and Cedric Prakash, S.J.—to assess Fr. Swamy’s current situation, why his request for bail has been twice denied and the next steps in his legal case.

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A roadmap of our conversation:
02:12 — The situation of Father Stan Swamy, S.J. as of April 2020
04:10 — The accusations brought against him
05:58 — The circumstances that mitigate against his release
08:35 — Links to Bhima Koregaon and Elgar Parishad
12:55 — The evidence the National Investigation Agency alleges to have against him
17:25 — The Maoists; the Naxalites and the Communist Party of India?
22:55 — The campaign for his release #StandwithStan​?
25:00 — Father Swamy’s work and ministry to the most impoverished of India
28:25 — What the Vatican knows about the situation and what the Catholic Church is doing
30:00 — The larger politics at play and the threats to democracy in India
34:45 — The future of his case and further attempts to grant bail on humanitarian grounds

Irish & Canadian Jesuits call for the release of Stan Swamy / Video: Campaigns calling for release continue

Irish & Canadian Jesuits call for the release of Stan Swamy / Video: Campaigns calling for release continue

Release Human Rights Defender Stan Swamy SJ

16/04/2021

Irish Jesuits International / by Irish Jesuits International

Fr Swamy is in poor health. He is hearing impaired and has Parkinson’s disease, and there have been calls from around the world – including from Pope Francis – to free him. He had been harrassed by authorities for some time and anticipated the likelihood of his arrest. He spoke about it in a video he made just two days before it occurred. But he is still in prison, and had his application for bail rejected on 22nd March 2021.
Jesuit Response
On hearing the news of the bail refusal, the Jesuits’ Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat (SJES) in Rome released a Statement of Solidarity in which Fr Xavier Jeyaraj SJ said:
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Canadian Jesuits call for the release of 83-year-old human rights defender

14/04/2021

Broadview / by Kiernan Green

Jesuits in Canada and around the world continue to call for the release of Father Stan Swamy, an 83-year-old Indian Jesuit and human rights defender charged and imprisoned under India’s anti-terror laws…
The Indian Jesuit father advocated for the land rights of the Indigenous people of eastern India for five decades. In 2018, he co-filed a public interest litigation on behalf of over 3,000 Adivasi villagers imprisoned without the due process of a timely trial.
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Video: Campaigns calling for release of India´s Father Stan Swamy continue

14/04/2021


en | 2:36min | 2021

By Rome Reports

This Rome Reports video above features efforts — including those made by the Jesuits — to free Indian Father Stan Swamy from prison.
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Jesuit Missions UK: Stand with Stan on his 84th birthday (April 26)

Jesuit Missions UK: Stand with Stan on his 84th birthday (April 26)

By Jesuit Missions UK

Fr Stan Swamy SJ celebrates his 84th birthday on 26 April. This year we want to let him know he is not forgotten.
Fr Stan Swamy SJ is an 83-year-old priest and human rights activist who has spent his life working for the poorest and most marginalised people in India. The Indian government has pursued a campaign of harassment against Fr Stan and other human rights activists in recent years …
Please join us in sending him a message of hope and solidarity this Easter. The card can be very simple or even a piece of folded paper.
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To The Jailed Priest Who Loves People: Friends Remember Stan Swamy

To The Jailed Priest Who Loves People: Friends Remember Stan Swamy

The Quint / by Asmita Nandy

Even as Father Stan Swamy fights for bail, his friends remember him as the man who “loves and lives for the poor.”
A four-minute call every 10 days from Taloja jail and a chirpy “I am managing here” keep the hope alive for friends of 83-year-old human rights activist and Jesuit priest Stan Swamy, booked by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Bhima-Koregaon case.
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Al report slams India / Excerpts: US State Dept Report Records Increasing Use of UAPA in India

Al report slams India / Excerpts: US State Dept Report Records Increasing Use of UAPA in India


Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Amnesty International report slams India

08/04/2021

Pakobserver / by News Desk

The London-based rights watchdog, Amnesty International has slammed India for its clampdown on civil liberties in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir as well as punitive lockdown in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, use of force against the anti-CAA (Citizenship (Amendment) Act) protests, farmers’ protests and handling of Delhi riots.
… On arbitrary arrests and detentions, the Amnesty International said that seven human rights activists – Father Stan Swamy, Jyoti Raghoba Jagtap, Sagar Tatyaram Gorkhe, Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor, Hany Babu, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde – were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for their alleged involvement in violence during the Bhima Koregaon celebrations near the city of Pune in 2018.
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Full report: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2020/21: THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S HUMAN RIGHTS (April 2021)

Excerpts: US State Dept Report Records Increasing Use of UAPA by Indian Government

05/04/2021

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The report cites the conditions in which the incarcerations of a pregnant Safoora Zargar, and ageing activists Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj and Stan Swamy progressed.
The US state department released the 2020 human rights report last week, accompanied by renewed rhetoric of putting emphasis on human rights at the heart of American diplomacy.
From the India chapter, here are excerpts from the report on the use of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) from its section on ‘Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees’.
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Nearing 180th day of incarceration, Stan Swamy carries cross, ‘awaits’ his Easter

Nearing 180th day of incarceration, Stan Swamy carries cross, ‘awaits’ his Easter

Counterview / by Fr Cedric Prakash SJ

April 4 was Holy Saturday 2021! Christians, in an age-old custom, waited devoutly, in patient silence but with deep hope: The tomb which contains the body of Jesus would be thrown wide open in a few hours, revealing the Resurrection of Jesus, his triumph over death and the promise to mankind of eternal life.
In some cell, in the Taloja jail (near Bombay), Jesuit Fr Stan Swamy nearing the 180th day of his incarceration, is still carrying his cross, still making that steep and difficult climb to Golgotha – but still in patience but with hope, awaiting his Easter!
On March 22, Sessions Judge Dinesh E. Kothalikar of the Special NIA Court, denied Fr Stan Swamy bail. In the detailed court order of 34-pages Justice Kothalikar said that based on the ‘material available on record’, Fr Stan seemed to be a member of a banned Maoist organisation:
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Also read: Bail denied to Fr. Stan Swamy SJ in India – A Statement from the Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat, Rome (March 22, 2021). Read full statement (PDF): SJES-Rome March31

Indian courts and Medical Bail

Indian courts and Medical Bail

CJP / by Zahid Maniyar

The Special NIA court rejected Father Stan Swamy’s bail plea on grounds that “he was not only the member of banned organisation CPI (Maoist) but was also carrying out activities to further the objective of the organisation which is nothing but to overthrow the democracy of the nation.”
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More Than 2,500 Activists, Academics, Others Issue Statement Demanding Stan Swamy’s Release

More Than 2,500 Activists, Academics, Others Issue Statement Demanding Stan Swamy’s Release

More Than 2,500 Activists, Academics, Others Issue Statement Demanding Stan Swamy’s Release

30/03/2021

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

“Stan Swamy is a symbol of the plight of thousands of undertrial prisoners who languish in jail for years under fabricated UAPA charges.”
A group of more than 2,500 people from India and abroad have issued a statement demanding the release of 84-year-old Stan Swamy, whose bail was rejected by a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on March 22.
Swamy, an Adivasi rights activist, is one of the 16 academics, lawyers and activists arrested in the Elgar Parishad case. He was arrested in October last year and suffers from acute Parkinson’s disease along with several other age-related ailments. Swamy had sought bail on the grounds that the prosecution has failed to establish his involvement with the ongoing investigation.
Read more / read the full text of the statement and the list of signatories.

Endorse: Appeal for Immediate Bail to 84-year Old Stan Swamy

28/03/2021

By various activists from Jharkhand

Please consider endorsing and circulating the attached statement against rejection of bail application of 84-year old Stan Swamy and appeal for his immediate bail. Endorsements (name, affiliation/organisation and place) should be sent before 8 am on Tuesday, 30 March 2021.

Appeal for Immediate Bail to 84-year Old Stan Swamy

We, the undersigned, are shocked by the rejection of a bail application filed by Stan Swamy in the Bhima Koregaon case by the special NIA (National Investigation Agency) court on 22 March 2021. He was arrested on 8 October 2021 and continues to languish in jail. …

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Special NIA Court’s Reasons For Denying Bail To Father Stan Swamy [read order]

Special NIA Court’s Reasons For Denying Bail To Father Stan Swamy [read order]

Special NIA Court’s Reasons For Denying Bail To Father Stan Swamy [read order]

24/03/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

A Special NIA Court, in Mumbai, has held that a police officer’s internal report can be considered while rejecting the bail application of an accused even after a charge sheet has been filed, if the investigating agency was granted permission for further investigation.
Special judge DE Kothalikar cited a last-minute report by an Assistant Investigating Officer to the Superintendent of Police NIA while rejecting 83-year-old tribal rights activist, Father Stan Swamy’s bail application, on Monday.
Read more/read order

Collective interest of community outweighs right of personal liberty of Stan Swamy: Special NIA Court while rejecting bail to Swamy [read order]

23/03/2021

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

The material placed on record prima facie indicated that Swamy was carrying out activities to “overthrow the democracy of the nation”, the Court said.
Collective interest of community will outweigh the right of personal liberty, the Special Court observed on Monday in its order refusing to grant bail to Stan Swamy, accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence.
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Read order, documented by Bar & Bench (PDF): Fr__Stan_Swamy_v__State_of_Maharashtra

Stan Swamy had hatched a ‘serious conspiracy’ to overthrow government, says NIA court order

23/03/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The 83-year-old Jesuit priest was denied bail by the court on Monday in the Bhima Koregaon violence case.
The special National Investigation Agency court that rejected the bail petition of 83-year-old Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy said that prima facie he had conspired with members of a banned Maoist organisation to create unrest in India and to overthrow the government, PTI reported.
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NIA Court Refuses Bail To Stan Swamy In Bhima Koregaon Case

22/03/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Special NIA Court Mumbai on Monday refused to grant bail to 83-year-old Father Stan Swamy, a tribal rights activist, from Ranchi, in Jharkhand, accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon – Elgaar Parishad case. Special Judge under the NIA Act DE Kothlikar passed the order dismissing the bail application, which had also cited medical grounds on account of Parkinsons disease of Stan Swamy.
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Stan Swamy’s bail plea rejected by NIA court

22/03/2021

Gauri Lankesh News / by Gauri Lankesh News Desk

… Swamy’s lawyer claimed that the evidence allegedly relied upon by the NIA was correspondence with various people to seek legal aid for Swamy’s organisation, Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee (PPSC), which works for undertrial Adivasis and Dalits falsely accused as Maoists…
The NIA chargesheet filed against Swamy had claimed that he is a member of banned organization CPI (Maoist), and that he was given the responsibility of spreading its activities after the arrest of many party members. Purportedly, Swamy was a staunch supporter of organisations like Vistapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan and People’s Union for Civil Liberties involved in activities for CPI (Maoists), it was submitted.
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Special NIA court rejects Stan Swamy’s bail plea

22/03/2021

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

He has been working with tribals since decades and is currently lodged at Taloja Central Jail after being arrested from Ranchi on October 9, 2020.
The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Monday rejected the bail plea filed by Jesuit priest Stan Swamy in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case.
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