Stan Swamy’s custodial death ends charade of ‘Gandhi in London, Godse in Gwalior’ Seema Chishti in The Long Cable  https://www.theindiacable.com/p/stan-swamy-case-saw-rule-by-law-not

In Father Stan’s case, the manner in which he has been accused and incarcerated leads to a single point – the intentions of the political project towards independent institutions, the law and minorities.

The National Investigation Agency was brought in, the use of the notorious UAPA to lawfully but unconstitutionally name individuals as terrorists and violate their right to life and liberty..use the law to attack and break down the rule of law.

 institutions, especially the judiciary and the media, failed to stand up.

It is no coincidence that Father Stan Swamy is a Jesuit Priest in central India, where the Sangh Parivar has targeted missionaries

Stan Swamy: A Messiah or Maoist? The Truth of Bhima Koregaon | Elgar Parishad | BK 16 Bhima Koregaon Case: Jul  8 2012 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0SdQ0TOfM4 

Bhima Koregaon Case: Trial Is the Intent of Draconian UAPA Law https://thewire.in/rights/bhima-koregaon-case-trying-without-a-trial-is-the-intent-of-draconian-uapa-law Rajshree Chandra 

Enacted in 1967, UAPA initially gave powers to the Union government to impose all-India bans on unlawful associations...The case against civil liberties and constitutional remedies got a draconian push by the Supreme Court’s Watali judgement (2019), which made bail a virtual impossibility for those charged under the UAPA.  ... this judgment is a reversal of the Supreme Court’s own ruling in the Balchand case (1978) that made “bail the rule and jail the exception”, balancing the values of individual liberty and exigencies of security. ..

In one of the earliest pleas in the Bhima Koregaon arrests, five of the accused had petitioned the Supreme Court in August 2018. The petitioners’ plea was only for a probe by a special investigation team (SIT), given the glaring lapses and bizarre conclusions in the rather tendentious findings of the Mumbai police.

In one instance, the inflammatory speech referred to in the FIR was actually a Marathi translation of verses from the German play The Good Persons of Szechwan by Betrolt Brecht.

In another, despite the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (Pune) raising many red flags on the veracity of “conspiracy letters”, they were selectively flashed by ADG of Maharashtra Police at a press briefing to suggest that the arrested activists were involved in a plot to assassinate the prime minister. All this was evidence placed before the court. The Supreme Court, however in its wisdom, dismissed the plea for SIT.

The purpose of this arbitrary “trial-without-a-trial” is no longer justice, where the guilty are punished and the innocent are set free. It is to convert the law into a tool of sustained suppression of citizens who are thinking, questioning and a little more dissenting that the state is willing to tolerate. “Trial by process” is the political and organisational logic of the UAPA.

Stan Swamy Passes Away After Contracting COVID-19 in Jail, Lawyer Demands Judicial Inquiry https://thewire.in/rights/stan-swamy-death-covid-19-judicial-inquiry 

Swamy had been cured of COVID-19 a few weeks ago but his lawyer said that the infection had left a lasting impact on his vitals. Desai insisted that the delay in the treatment led to Swamy’s death. As per the procedure laid down under Section 176 (1A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a judicial magistrate’s inquiry has to be carried out in case of a custodial death. Additional solicitor general Anil Singh told the court that the state is not “foreclosing the mandated inquires”.

Even when Swamy was struggling in jail, both the NIA and the state prison officials had opposed his shifting to a private hospital. Swamy’s lawyer had moved an urgent interim bail and the NIA court had rejected his bail petition on grounds including his health and the current COVID-19 situation.

Mihir Desai, moved another application before the high court, this time challenging the constitutionality of UAPA. Desai has challenged the constitutionality of section 43D (5) of UAPA, which imposes strict conditions for grant of bail. The bail application claims that the UAPA section violates Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Indian constitution. The case is scheduled for hearing again on July 6.

Healthy democracies must respect role of human rights activists: US on Stan Swamy’s death 

The Office of International Religious Freedom under the US State Department has called call on all governments to respect the vital role of human rights activists in healthy democracies,”  https://theprint.in/india/healthy-democracies-must-respect-role-of-human-rights-activists-us-on-stan-swamys-death/692104/ 

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/fr-stan-swamy-was-jailed-on-false-charges-says-top-un-official/article35156145.ece Jailing Human Rights Defenders is inexcusable,” says Mary Lawlor, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders.

Eamon Gilmore, EU Special Representative for Human Rights, said, “I am very saddened to hear that Fr. 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 the authorities”.

India and the EU have been engaged in a dialogue to defend human rights. Officials from both sides met for the 9th India-EU Human Rights Dialogue on April 12, 2021. “As the world's two largest democracies, India and the EU reiterated their commitment to human rights. In this context, they emphasised the universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of all human rights,” a Joint Statement issued following the meeting had declared.