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Tag: Stan Swamy death

  • Maharashtra govt submits medical records of late priest Stan Swamy in HC

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Tuesday submitted to the Bombay High Court the medical records of Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy, an 84-yar-old accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoists links case who died in a hospital here while being in judicial custody last week awaiting a medical bail.

    Chief public prosecutor Aruna Pai told a bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar that the state had submitted “a compilation of Swamy’s complete medical records” since the time he was lodged in the Taloja prison as an undertrial.

    Swamy was arrested by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) from Ranchi in October 2020.

    He was interrogated at the time of his arrest by the NIA but the central agency never sought his custody.

    Suffering from Parkinson’s disease and a host of other medical ailments, Swamy, who was then 83-year-old, was remanded to judicial custody following his arrest.

    ALSO READ | Father Stan Swamy was the ‘voice of oppressed’ for decades, activist decry ‘institutional murder’

    He was then admitted to the Taloja prison hospital in Navi Mumbai.

    After informing the high court about Swamy’s death on July 5 this year, senior counsel Mihir Desai, who had represented the tribal rights activist in the HC, had told the court that Swamy’s death was a result of negligence on part of the NIA and the Maharashtra prison authorities who had failed to provide him timely and adequate medical aid.

    Desai had also urged the HC at the time to keep Swamy’s plea for medical bail and his plea challenging the bar on grant of bail under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act pending.

    He had also urged the HC to call for Swamy’s medical records.

    On Desai’s request, the high court had passed an order calling for the medical records to ascertain the veracity of the allegations made against authorities.

    On Tuesday, Pai submitted that the “Taloja prison authority had placed on record a 300-page long compilation of documents including medical reports from the time Stan Swamy was brought to Taloja Jail till his postmortem report”.

    Besides the state government, the private Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai, where Swamy died during treatment, also submitted the late activist’s medical records and the treatment provided to him.

    The high court took all the documents on record.

    ALSO READ | Activists blame Indian system for Stan Swamy’s demise

    The bench also said that since Swamy died in judicial custody, a magisterial inquiry into his death, as mandated by section 176 of the CrPC, will be conducted.

    “Whatever inquiry or investigation by the magistrate under 176 (CrPC) takes place, someone will have to participate in it now,” the high court told Desai.

    Desai said he had some submissions to make on such inquiry and he will do so on the next date of hearing.

    The HC will hear Desai and all other parties on July 19.

    The Elgar Parishad case is related to inflammatory speeches made at a conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, the police claimed, triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.

    The police had claimed the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links.

  • Stan Swamy’s death in custody can’t be jusitified: Sanjay Raut

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said the death of Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case accused Jesuit priest Stan Swamy in custody cannot be justified even if Maoists are “more dangerous than Kashmiri separatists”.

    In his weekly column Rokhthok in the party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, Raut wondered whether India’s foundation was so weak that an 84-year-old man could can wage a war against it, and said being critical of an incumbent government doesn’t mean being against the country.

    Swamy, 84, possibly the oldest person to be accused of terrorism in India, died in a Mumbai hospital recently in the middle of his fight for bail on health grounds.

    “A government that is scared of an 84-year-old physically challenged man is dictatorial in character, but weak in the mind,” said Raut, who is the executive editor of ‘Saamana’.

    The activities of the Elgar Parishad cannot be supported, but what happened later should be called a “conspiracy of cracking down on freedom”, Raut said, referring to the arrest of activists like Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Gaurav Navlakha and others in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.

    Raut said all those arrested (in the case), including (scholar-activist) Anand Teltumbde, belong to a particular ideology who voice their rebellion through literature.

    “Can they overthrow the government with this?” he asked.

    Raut said Stan Swamy died in custody while Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with those who want autonomy for Kashmir and are demanding restoration of Article 370 there.

    “We may not agree with the ideology of Maoists and Naxals.

    Swamy’s death in custody cannot be justified even if Maoists and Naxals are more dangerous than Kashmiri separatists,” the Rajya Sabha member said.

    He expressed surprise over Prime Minister Modi’s name figuring in the list of global leaders who crack down on press freedom.

    “The situation has not gone out of hand in India even if it is true that the government’s critics are put in jail under sedition laws. The Indian press also raises its voice against such incidents,” he said.

    “Is the country’s foundation so weak that it can be threatened by an 84-year-old man?” Raut asked.

     

  • Stan Swamy: Messiah for hundreds of undertrials died as one

    Express News Service
    RANCHI: Stan Swamy was instrumental in filing a PIL on behalf of youths belonging to SC/ST communities and others languishing in Jharkhand jails following cases being registered against them under the stringent sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Criminal Law Amendment Act (CLA), 1908.

    In his PIL, Stan raised the pathetic situation of the undertrials. Hearing Swamy’s PIL in 2018, the Jharkhand High Court called for detailed information on under-trials languishing in the prisons. According to Father PM Tony, who spent a few years in Swamy-run NGO ‘Bagaicha,’ over 3,000 people, mostly tribals, are languishing in jails for many years due to the slow legal process.

    ALSO READ | Punish those who framed Stan Swamy: Opposition writes to President Kovind

    “After coming across media reports, Stan was moved as he was deeply concerned about the Adivasis. He wanted to know how we could help and discussed the issue with his colleagues,” said Father Tony. Finally, somebody suggested that a research study could be done on such prisoners and their situation in Jharkhand, he added. “Since I had just completed my Ph.D. and returned from studies; Stan asked me if I was interested to take up the study. I agreed to it and a ‘Bagaicha’ Research Team was formed. It did six months of rigorous fieldwork.”

    Before the studies, Father Tony said, they also tried to access Jharkhand jails and approached the IG Prisons who neither give any appointment nor did he respond. “Then an RTI was filed, asking jail authorities to provide details of the undertrials who were booked under the CLA and similar sections dealing with state repression, but no proper reply was given.” 

    Then they contacted Jeetan Marandi and Damodar Turi who were arrested on similar charges and released on bail, he added. Through these two people, the Bagaicha research team succeeded in tracing several other prisoners who were “falsely implicated and arrested” but were on bail. “We succeeded in tracing some of them and interviewed 102 persons who were out on bail.”  Tony said that after proper research, a report was published in 2015 on the basis of which the PIL was filed.

    ALSO WATCH:

  • Punish those who framed Stan Swamy: Opposition writes to President Kovind

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Leaders of major Opposition parties on Tuesday wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind seeking his intervention in holding accountable those responsible for foisting false cases on tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, who passed away under custody the previous day leaving the nation horrified. 

    The letter was jointly signed by Sonia Gandhi (Cong), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool), Hemant Soren (JMM), H D Deve Gowda (JD-S), Farooq Abdullah (NC), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), D Raja (CPI) and Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M).

    “We are urging your immediate intervention as the President of India to direct ‘your government’ to act against those responsible for foisting false cases on him, his continued detention in jail and inhuman treatment. They must be held accountable. It is now incumbent that all those jailed in the Bhima Koregaon case and other detenues under politically motivated cases, misusing draconian laws like UAPA, sedition etc be released,” the letter read.

    Meanwhile, a US forensic agency said incriminating evidence was planted on Bima Koregaon case accused Surendra Gadling’s computer. It had earlier claimed to have found evidence of activist Rona Wilson’s computer being hacked to plant 30 documents to frame him in the case.

  • Modi government rejects criticism over Father Stan Swamy’s death, says his detention was as per ‘due process under law’

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday rejected mounting international criticism over the death of rights activist Father Stan Swamy, and said the due process of law was followed in his case and that the authorities act against violations of law and do not restrain legitimate exercise of rights.

    Asserting that India remains committed to the promotion and protection of human rights of all its citizens, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the country’s democratic polity is complemented by an independent judiciary and a range of national and state-level human rights commissions.

    Eighty-four-year-old Stan Swamy, who was arrested last year under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the Elgar Parishad case, died in a Mumbai hospital on Monday.

    ALSO READ: Broaden definition of custodial death, say lawyers after Stan Swamy dies in hospital

    India’s assertion came as UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet and human rights officials of the US and European Union (EU) expressed concern over the death of the Jesuit priest and rights activist.

    Noting that Father Stan Swamy was arrested and detained by the National Investigation Agency following due process under law, the ministry said because of the specific nature of charges against him, his bail applications were rejected by courts.

    “Authorities in India act against violations of law and not against legitimate exercise of rights. All such actions are strictly in accordance with the law,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

    ALSO READ: Funeral service for Stan Swamy held at Mumbai church; his friends recall his love for tribals

    His comments came in response to media queries relating to reactions over the demise of Stan Swamy.

    In view of Father Stan Swamy’s ailing health, the Bombay High Court had allowed his medical treatment at a private hospital where he was receiving all possible medical attention since May 28, Bagchi said.

    The MEA spokesperson said Swamy’s health and medical treatment was being closely monitored by the courts and he passed away on July 5 following medical complications.

    ALSO READ: United Nations ‘disturbed’ by death of priest and rights activist Stan Swamy in jail

    “India’s democratic and constitutional polity is complemented by an independent judiciary, a range of national and state-level human rights commissions that monitor violations, a free media and a vibrant and vocal civil society,” Bagchi said.

    “India remains committed to promotion and protection of human rights of all its citizens,” he added.

    Earlier, the UN body on human rights said it was “deeply saddened and disturbed” by the death of the activist in pre-trial detention.

    ALSO READ: United Nations ‘disturbed’ by death of priest and rights activist Stan Swamy in jail

    UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Bachelet and the UN’s independent experts have repeatedly raised the cases of Swamy and 15 other human rights defenders with the government of India over the past three years and urged their release from detention, it said.

    “We are deeply saddened and disturbed by the death of 84-year-old Father Stan Swamy, a human rights defender and Jesuit priest, in Mumbai yesterday, following his arrest in October 2020 under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,” Liz Throssell, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said.

    “Father Stan had been held in pre-trial detention without bail since his arrest, charged with terrorism-related offences in relation to demonstrations that date back to 2018,” she said in a statement.

    ALSO READ: United Nations ‘disturbed’ by death of priest and rights activist Stan Swamy in jail

    “In light of the continued, severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is even more urgent that States, including India, release every person detained without a sufficient legal basis, including those detained simply for expressing critical or dissenting views. This would be in line with the Indian judiciary’s calls to decongest the prisons,” she said.

    Throssell said the High Commissioner called on the Government of India to ensure that no one is detained for exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression, and peaceful assembly.

    Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, termed Swamy’s death as “devastating” and claimed he was imprisoned on “false charges of terrorism”.

    ALSO READ: Stan Swamy death – Activists express anguish, call for fixing accountability for ‘custodial murder’

    “The news from India today is devastating. Human Rights Defender and Jesuit priest Fr. Stan Swamy has died in custody, nine months after his arrest on false charges of terrorism. Jailing Human Rights Defenders is inexcusable,” said Lawlor.

    European Union Special Representative for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore too expressed concerns.

  • Broaden definition of custodial death, say lawyers after Stan Swamy dies in hospital

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The term custodial death is usually used in connection with physical torture inflicted on prisoners by police, prison or other authorities and the death of priest-activist Stan Swamy does not technically qualify as one, several lawyers said.

    They also stressed on the need to widen the definition of the term.

    Debate on what constitutes custodial death has intensified after the 84-year-old cleric, who was arrested under the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, breathed his last in a Mumbai hospital on Monday.

    His death was announced in the Bombay High Court, where he was fighting for bail on health grounds.

    ALSO READ: Funeral service for Stan Swamy held at Mumbai church; his friends recall his love for tribals

    The Jesuit priest, who was arrested for his alleged role in the 2017 Bhima Koegaon case, had been on a ventilator since Sunday after his health worsened rapidly.

    Prominent lawyers expressed the hope that institutions entrusted with the responsibilities of protecting every individual will ensure that an anti-terror law like the UAPA is not misused by security agencies, and people arrested under it are not kept in custody “indefinitely”.

    “Stan Swamy was in the custody of the court. In past, the term custodial death has been used in connection with physical torture on prisoners by the police, prison authority, or any other authority. Stan Swamy was hospitalised and getting treatment in custody,” said senior advocate Rebecca John.

    ALSO READ: United Nations ‘disturbed’ by death of priest and rights activist Stan Swamy in jail

    “I would like to broaden the definition of custodial death, which has had a narrow definition so far because as he (Stan Swamy) was admittedly suffering from a life-threatening illness and hospitalised in custody, neither our prison system nor our agencies and courts thought that it is necessary to release him on bail,” she added.

    In her view, the death of the priest-activist, who was suffering from Parkinson’s disease and had also tested positive for Covid, has many important lessons.

    According to Geeta Luthra, also a senior advocate, his death signifies a “failure of our system”.

    ALSO READ: Journalists, rights activists remember Stan Swamy as ‘stoic and courageous man’

    Describing it as “extremely disheartening”, she said, “We allowed him to die in custody he was in hospital because his condition had worsened so much that the risk of him dying was looming over our heads.”

    Every person, Luthra stressed, deserves pre-trial bail.

    “You may agree or disagree with any human being, but surely, they deserve liberty till the matter is pending in court. UAPA is being used too casually and the fallout of this will be the liberty of innocent citizens,” she said.”

    “If a person is under trial, the courts should follow the principle of bail and not jail,” she said.

    ALSO READ: Stan Swamy death – Activists express anguish, call for fixing accountability for ‘custodial murder’

    John said Swamy, who had to fight even to get a sipper and a straw to enable him to drink water, was not provided medical treatment on time.

    She said any individual, if on the wrong side of the law, needs to be punished.

    At the same time, institutions need to ensure they are provided with medical aid as and when necessary.

    “The need is to see how this law is being misused and how you cannot keep people in custody indefinitely without trial…,” John said.

    Swamy’s lawyer Mihir Desai said Swamy was implicated in a fabricated case.

    ALSO READ: Stan Swamy breathes his last fighting for bail, people close to him cry institutional murder

    “We have lost him and, in that sense, we have failed him. But we must carry on the fight that he believed in,” the Mumbai-based lawyer said.

    The Elgar Parishad case is related to inflammatory speeches made at a conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, the police claimed, triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of Pune.

    The case was taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on January 24 last year.

    The agency will formally inform the trial court about the death of Swamy and the charges against him would be “abated”.

    The cleric was the sixteenth person to be arrested in the case last October.

    OPINION: There is freedom, but no mercy

    People in the case have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the UAPA.

    The NIA has alleged that Swamy was in contact with “conspirators” — Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Hany Babu, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde — to further the group’s activities.

    It also alleged that he had received funds through an associate for furthering their agenda.

    Besides, he was convenor of the Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee (PPSC), a frontal organisation of the CPI(Maoist), officials claimed.

    They said literature, propaganda material of the CPI(Maoist) and documents related to communications for furthering the group’s programmes were seized from his possession.

    ALSO READ: We want to see him one last time – Stan Swamy’s family members mourn his death

    Ahead of his arrest in October last year, Swamy had posted a video saying the NIA had been interrogating him and had questioned him for 15 hours in a span of five days.

    “I have never been to Bhima Koregaon for which I am being made an accused,” he said.

    He added that he had asked for questioning through video conference and hoped that better “human sense” would prevail.

    “…what is happening to me is not something unique happening to me alone, it is a broader process taking place all over the country.

    We all are aware how prominent intellectuals, lawyers, writers, poets, activists, student leaders are all put in jail because they have expressed their dissent or raised questions about the ruling powers of India,” Swamy had said in the video.

  • If not for him, I’d be languishing in jail: Social activist Damodar Turi remembers Stan Swamy

    Express News Service
    As I was actively participating in anti-government movements to oppose anti-people policies and activities of the Jharkhand government, I was arrested twice by the state police, once in 2008 and the second time in 2018, on fake charges. Had Stan Swamy not come to my rescue, I would have still been languishing in jail.It is just because of his determination to battle against the system that I am not only moving freely, but was also acquitted in one of those cases in 2018. Stan Swamy was instrumental in my release from jail as he fought pro-actively both inside and outside the court.

    In the first case, when statewide protests were organised and the matter was highlighted by the media, then the investigating officers went on the backfoot. Because of intense public glare they could not twist the case the way they wanted to and I was acquitted by the court. In the second case, I was not being treated well in the jail but statewide protests led by Swamy were organised following which I was ensured basic facilities in jail. On both occasions, statewide protests were organised at Governor House in Ranchi and all the district headquarters. Rallies were organised and dharnas were also staged across the state.

    READ EDITORIAL | Stan Swamy and the murder of justice

    Firstly, I was charged with a fake case under UAPA in 2008. A fake charge of working for the Maoist organisation was leveled against me despite the fact that no document or evidence related to Maoist connection was recovered from me. In 2018, I was arrested on charges of handling the banned trade union called Mazdoor Sangathan Samiti even though I had never been a member of thatorganisation. I only used to go there to deliver speech, but I was termed a handler for the organisation and arrested at midnight. All of a sudden, the organisation was banned by the state government and some of us were arrested along with the workers of the organisation.

    In the first case, I was lodged in Ranchi jail while the second time I was imprisoned at Giridih jail. The way the British killed Birsa Munda in jail by poisoning him, 84-year old Father Stan Swamy, who had nothing to do with Elgar Parishad case, has been killed in the same way. This is nothing but a cold-blooded murder by this system. Considering his old age, he could have been put under house arrest as he was not going anywhere. Despite the fact that he cooperated well with the National Investigation Aency, he was arrested and was not granted bail even after becoming critically ill.

    Family Members observe the grief of #StanSwamy at his birth house at Virugallur village in Trichy district. @xpresstn @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/q4zqS4pgEK
    — Jayakumar Madala (@JayakumarMadala) July 5, 2021

    (The writer is a social activist and was jailed several times on charges of links with Maoists)

  • Activists blame Indian system for Stan Swamy’s demise

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Condemning the judiciary for denying bail to Stan Swamy, activists said it was a dark day for Indian democracy. Swamy had repeatedly highlighted the lack of medical facilities in Navi Mumbai’s Taolja jail where he was lodged. 

    “The system is responsible for Swamy’s death. I strongly condemn the delay in legal procedures. Swamy will always be remembered for his work for Adivasis. Dissent cannot be suppressed. We will continue to champion human rights,” said Jharkhand-based activist Elina Horo. 

    All India Progressive Women’s Association secretary Kavita Krishnan blamed the government and the jail conditions. 

    READ EDITORIAL | Stan Swamy and the murder of justice

    “It is the judiciary as a whole, and most of all the judges who denied bail, who deserve the most condemnation. Swamy appealed to them over and over, saying he could not walk, could not eat on his own, had to be spoon fed by fellow prisoners, wanted to go home to Ranchi to spend his last days among his own people… It is a judicial farce that eventually Swamy died even as yet another bail hearing was underway.”

    The Peoples Union for Democratic Rights expressed outrage and termed Swamy’s death as a ‘custodial death’. 

    “The central government and the NIA have driven political prisoner Swamy to death. Arresting an elderly activist suffering from multiple ailments in relation to a false and malicious political case, and then letting him die in custody by opposing desperate requests for release, is nothing short of custodial murder,” said Radhika Chitkara from PUDR.

    Family Members observe the grief of #StanSwamy at his birth house at Virugallur village in Trichy district. @xpresstn @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/q4zqS4pgEK
    — Jayakumar Madala (@JayakumarMadala) July 5, 2021

    Senior advocate Karuna Nandy tweeted, “Stan Swamy has died. In custody, suffering cruel and inhumane treatment, at the hands of the State. The State owes his loved ones, and all citizens accountability. Of the individuals who made the decisions that killed him, and damages.” 

  • EU special representative says raised Stan Swamy issue with India

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: European Union Special Representative for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore on Monday condoled the death of tribal activist Stan Swamy.

    “India: I am very saddened to hear that Father Stan Swamy has passed away. A defender of indigenous peoples’ rights. He was held in detention for the past 9 months. The EU had been raising his case repeatedly with authorities,” Gilmore tweeted.

    Gilmore was referring to the letter in December last by 21 Members of European Parliament (MEPs) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the release of Swamy.

    Mary Lawlor, a United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders, termed the news of Swamy’s death as devastating and called detention of human rights defenders inexcusible. 

    “The news from India today is devastating. Human Rights Defender and Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy has died in custody, nine months after his arrest on false charges of terrorism. Jailing HRDs is inexcusable,” she tweeted.

    Earlier in the day, Stanislaus D’Souza SJ, Jesuit Provincial of India, issued a statement, saying he joined all Jesuit priests in extending their condolences to Swamy’s family. 

    “I express my deepest condolences to the family members, and all those who stood by Stan.”

  • Father Stan Swamy was the ‘voice of oppressed’ for decades, activist decry ‘institutional murder’

    Express News Service
    RANCHI/MUMBAI: Activists and people close to Swamy, who worked tirelessly for the rights of tribals and other underprivileged people in Jharkhand for more than three decades, termed his death as “institutional murder”. 

    “This is an institutional murder. He was arrested on fake charges and murdered. Despite the fact that no charges were proved against him, he was kept in jail for several months,” said Aloka Kujoor, who was associated with Swamy for over 20 years.

    The Jesuit priest was the oldest among the 16 accused persons arrested in the Elgar-Parishad case and possibly the oldest in India to be charged under the UAPA.

    “For decades he was a voice of the oppressed in Jharkhand.We hold the NIA and the central government wholly responsible and strongly condemn their role in Stan’s death, which has once again exposed the fascist face of the BJP government at the Centre,” said a statement issued by Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JJM), a network of several people’s organisations and activists.

    Family Members observe the grief of #StanSwamy at his birth house at Virugallur village in Trichy district. @xpresstn @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/q4zqS4pgEK
    — Jayakumar Madala (@JayakumarMadala) July 5, 2021

    Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and a host of political leaders and activists expressed shock and anguish at Swamy’s death and lashed out at the central government. 

    “I had strongly opposed his arrest and incarceration. The Union Government should be answerable for absolute apathy and non-provision of timely medical services, leading to his death,” tweeted Soren.

    Swamy and other activists arrested in the Elgar Parshad case, including 82-year-old activist Varavara Rao, have repeatedly complained of inadequate health facilities in jail.

    Swamy, a native of Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, was born in 1937 and was best known for his work with tribal people and the fight for their rights in Jharkhand. He collaborated with people’s movements working against unjust displacements, human rights violations and illegal land acquisitions. 

    ​He was also instrumental in filing PILs against tribal, SC and other marginalised youths being implicated in UAPA and criminal cases.