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Tag: Surendra Gadling

If you are in a university and oppose state policy, you can be targeted: Hany Babu, DU professor

If you are in a university and oppose state policy, you can be targeted: Hany Babu, DU professor

The Caravan / by Shaheen Ahmed & Maya Palit

In the early hours of 10 September 2019, a team of police officials, including personnel from the Pune Police, turned up at the doorstep of Hany Babu MT, an associate professor in the University of Delhi’s English department. … The police informed Babu that the search was conducted in connection with the Elgar Parishad and Bhima Koregaon case. …
Shaheen Ahmed and Maya Palit, the multimedia and books editors at The Caravan, respectively, spoke to Babu about the raid at his house and its aftermath.
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The Preliminary Fair Trial Report: Bhima Koregaon

The Preliminary Fair Trial Report: Bhima Koregaon

American Bar Association / by American Bar Association

In the wake of violent attacks on marginalized communities in India in 2018, the Maharashtra police arrested several activists and lawyers who historically advocated for the rights of these communities. A preliminary review of the judicial records in this case raises serious concerns of procedural irregularities, abuse of process, and violations of fundamental human rights. Several United Nations’ (UN) experts on human rights have expressed concern that the arrests and charges were brought in retaliation for the defendants’ legitimate human rights work.
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Read the full report here (.pdf):

Prosecution gives cloned copies of ‘seized electronic data’ to three accused

Prosecution gives cloned copies of ‘seized electronic data’ to three accused

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Police have so far booked 23 people and arrested nine persons in connection with the case; all the arrested accused are activists and lawyers.
The nine activists and lawyers arrested in the Elgaar Parishad case were produced before a special court in Pune on Wednesday and three of them were given cloned copies of the data purportedly recovered from the electronic devices seized by the investigators from the accused.
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Cloned copies of seized electronic evidence handed to 3 Elgar Parishad accused

Cloned copies of seized electronic evidence handed to 3 Elgar Parishad accused

Hindustan Times / by Shalaka Shinde

PUNE: Voluminous electronic evidence seized by Pune police from the possession of the accused in the Elgar Parishad case was handed over to two of the accused in a Pune court on Wednesday. Two hard disks – one of 8 terabyte and one of 2 terabyte – were given to accused Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson and Surendra Gadling in the court of Additional Sessions Judge SR Navander.
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Bail plea of six activists rejected, court says their acts ‘against democracy’

Bail plea of six activists rejected, court says their acts ‘against democracy’

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

A special UAPA court in Pune Wednesday rejected the bail pleas of six of the nine arrested accused – Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Varavara Rao, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut and Surendra Gadling – in the Elgaar Parishad case. The court also said that it could now move for trial if both the parties were ready.
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First, They Came For the Lawyers…

First, They Came For the Lawyers…

The Wire / by Jhuma Sen

The Israeli spyware snooping scandal in the latest example of how India is no exception when it comes to common patterns of persecution and intimidation of lawyers working on human rights issues.
The relationship between civil liberties lawyers, more commonly identified by its universal moniker ‘human rights lawyers’ and repressive regimes globally demonstrate some common patterns of persecution and intimidation.
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Whatsapp Spyware Attack: Bhima-Koregaon activists being spied on by the Centre?

Whatsapp Spyware Attack: Bhima-Koregaon activists being spied on by the Centre?

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

The Whatsapp Snoopgate issue that spread like wildfire, not only had the general public under its attack, but lawyers defending the human rights activists arrested under the controversial Bhima Koregaon case have also confirmed that their phones were being targeted by Pegasus, a the surveillance software developed by Israeli company NSO group that came to be in question, The Huffington Post report.
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Pegasus Spyware: Lawyer Defending Bhima-Koregaon Activists Received Warning from WhatsApp

Pegasus Spyware: Lawyer Defending Bhima-Koregaon Activists Received Warning from WhatsApp

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Nihalsing Rathod says he was first contacted by CitizenLab researchers, who have done work on Pegasus, and then later by WhatsApp about his phone being compromised.
Mumbai: Over the last two years, Nagpur-based human rights lawyer Nihalsing Rathod has received receiving calls on WhatsApp from unknown numbers. These calls would be made from international numbers, and would invariably turn out to be a group call.
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