Counsel says NIA never sought Swamy’s custodial interrogation
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While the federal agency maintains that Swamy was an ‘active member’ of the banned outfit CPI (Maoist), who was found with “incriminating documents”, Mihir Desai, the counsel who represented the late Father, questioned the intent of the federal agency to arrest Swamy.
Agencies
he agency has filed chargesheets against 22 people, including 16 who were arrested in the case under the stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act which makes granting of bail difficult.
The death of the octogenarian tribal rights activist Stanislaus Lourduswamy, popularly known as Father Stan Swamy, an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case, has sparked a debate among sections of the civil society on the treatment meted out by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Tribal rights activist s death: A wake-up call for India thedailystar.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thedailystar.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Indian priest held under anti-terror law dies July 05 2021 11:52 PM AFP/New Delhi An 84-year-old rights activist and Jesuit priest detained for nine months without trial under Indian anti-terrorism laws died yesterday ahead of a bail hearing, officials said.
Father Stan Swamy, who campaigned for marginalised tribal communities, was arrested last year for allegedly inciting violence between different Indian castes in 2018. He was denied bail despite suffering from Parkinson’s and other ailments.
He was admitted to hospital in May with coronavirus and suffered a cardiac arrest over the weekend.
Swami had been detained under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), which effectively allows people to be held without trial indefinitely.
Father Stan Swamy, severely ill and at 84 the eldest prisoner in a case accusing rights activists of Maoist links, passed away in a Mumbai hospital on Monday while waiting for bail.
The announcement of the Parkinson’s patient’s death came during his bail hearing in Bombay High Court.
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The court was also due to hear the Ranchi-based Jesuit and tribal rights defender’s plea challenging provisions of the anti-terror Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), which many activists in India and abroad have termed a draconian law and under which bail is a rarity.
Stanislaus Lourduswamy was among 16 people arrested in the Elgaar Parishad case, an investigation into alleged Maoist links to an Ambedkarite event on December 31, 2017, that was followed by caste clashes the next day that claimed one life.
Express News Service
RANCHI/MUMBAI: Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad case, passed away at a Mumbai hospital on Monday shortly before the Bombay High Court took up his plea for bail. He was 84.
Swamy had been languishing in Mumbai’s Taloja Jail ever since the
The High Court had on May 28 told state prison authorities to shift him to the private Holy Family Hospital in Bandra.
On July 3, the HC slated his bail plea for hearing on July 6. However, his lawyers moved the court on Monday seeking urgent hearing after his health deteriorated and he was put on ventilator.