Nine families united by one story of a long, anxious wait
Times of India / by TOI
More than a year after their arrest, bail hearing of six activists due Today. TOI meets their family members to hear their story.
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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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District Government Pleader: Accused were helping Maoists
Times of India / by Vishwas Kothari
PUNE: District government pleader Ujjwala Pawar on Wednesday argued that the acts attributed to the accused arrested in the Elgar Parishad case should be seen with the objectives, strategies and tactics of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) outfit.
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District Government Pleader: Call records show Elgar accused kept in touch
Hindustan Times / by Shalaka Shinde
PUNE: The activists and lawyers accused in the Elgar Parishad case were in touch with each other for at least a year before they were arrested, according to the call records presented in the court by Ujjwala Pawar, district government pleader (DGP) of Pune.
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No tangible evidence to link Elgar case accused with terror charges: Defence
The Times of India / by Vishwas Kothari
PUNE: Defence lawyers Rohan Nahar and Rahul Deshmukh submitted on Thursday that the city police had no tangible evidence to connect the accused in the Elgar Parishad case with the banned CPI (Maoist) and the terror charges invoked in it.
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Elgaar Parishad case probe biased, imaginary: Defence lawyer to court
The Indian Express / By Express News Service
Police have claimed that a letter seized from an accused mentions an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a ‘Rajiv Gandhi type incident’.
A defence lawyer representing two of the arrested accused in the Elgaar Parishad case — Rona Wilson and P Varavara Rao — on Thursday termed the investigation in the case ‘biased’ and ‘imaginary’.
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Gadchiroli court rejects bail plea by Gadling
The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde
Gadchiroli Sessions Judge S C Khati passed an order in this regard on September 23. Following the Surjagad incident on December 27, 2016, an offence was lodged at the Etapalli police station in Gadchiroli district.
A court in Gadchiroli has rejected the bail application filed by lawyer Surendra Gadling in connection with an incident of arson in December 2016.
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The Law Takes Its Slow Course
Outlook / by Preetha Nair
Lawyers and kin of jailed activists allege pre-trial punishment.
“It’s tough without him around. I am not hopeful of any positive outcome now,” says Meenal Gadling, wife of human rights lawyer Surendra Gadling, who has been languishing in Pune’s Yerawada jail for more than a year now.
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When Judicial Process itself becomes a Punishment
Groundxero.in / by P. Varalakshmi
The dictum of ‘natural justice’ that not a single innocent should be punished – is vanishing into thin air in gathering gales of fascism. Professor GN Saibaba is fighting death languishing in a dark and dingy cell, unable to procure legitimate medical requirements. Thousands of Adivasis are rotting behind the high walls of prison. While those actually involved in bomb explosions, murders and genocides, are coming out from within prison walls to be honoured with felicitations. Some are being given chance to be Parliamentarians too. Is India’s political power dictating what and how justice should be? Asks P. Varalakshmi.
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One year later: process has become punishment, say activists’ family members
The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal
It has been a year since poet Varavara Rao, unionist and human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, and activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira have been arrested and charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for their alleged links with the CPI (Maoist) and for their alleged role in the Bhima-Koregaon violence.
Their family members, who spoke to The Hindu on Wednesday, said, “The process has become the punishment”, and it is extremely disheartening that it has become very difficult for them to even get bail.
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