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Siddharth Lamba
Project Officer, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
HUMAN rights defender Fr. Stan Swamy (84) breathed his last on July 5 as an undertrial prisoner. He died awaiting the Bombay High Court’s decision on his bail plea filed more than a month ago.
Fr. Stan had sought medical bail after his arrest in October 2020 stating that he was suffering from a neuro-degenerative disease and other health complications. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) opposed Stan’s medical bail plea stating that there was no “conclusive proof” of his ill-health. Nothing more remains to be said about this baseless opposition as he died on ventilator support in a hospital fighting pulmonary infection, Parkinson’s disease and Covid-19 complications.