A student takes part in a demonstration in New Delhi on July 6, 2021, after the Indian rights activist and Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy, who was detained for nine months without trial under Indian anti-terrorism laws died on July 5 ahead of a bail hearing. (Photo: AFP)
A group of rights activists in India have urged President Droupadi Murmu to withdraw terror-related cases against late Jesuit Father Stan Swamy and 15 other accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case.
“It is a false case registered against Father Swamy and others and it should be withdrawn,” said Father Antony P.M, a social activist at a gathering to mark the second death anniversary of the priest, on July 5 in the eastern Jharkhand state. Tributes were paid to the Swamy across the country.
He said a group of activists is appealing to the president, who hails from an indigenous community in eastern India, to use her good office to withdraw “the totally false case registered against right defenders,” Antony told UCA News on July 6.
The activists had gathered in front of the Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the Jharkhand governor, in the state capital Ranchi. It was organized by the Shahid Father Stan Swamy Nyaya Morcha (Martyer Stan Swamy Justice Forum).
“Father Swamy, who fought for the rights of indigenous people in Jharkhand finally had to die for want of medical care as a prisoner," said Antony, the director of Bagaicha, a Jesuit social center in Jharkhand, where Swamy lived and worked.
Murmu served as the governor of Jharkhand when Swamy's residence in Ranchi was raided twice and the federal terror investigative agency arrested him in 2020.
He was accused of having links with outlawed Maoists along with 15 well-known human rights activists accused in a case linking them to a violent clash in Bhima-Koregaon village in western Maharashtra state in 2018.
The late priest and others including rights activists, lawyers, academicians, and writers, were also charged under the provisions of a draconian anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), alleging they had conspired to unleash violence in Bhima-Koregaon.
The priest was also accused of sedition and conspiring with Maoist rebels to overthrow the federal government.
The 85-year-old activist priest died as an undertrial prisoner in a private hospital in Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra.
“We hereby request Your Excellency to take cognizance of the entire Bhima-Koregaon case wherein the intention of the state and the investigation agencies is highly suspicious and does not inspire any confidence in common citizens,” they said in a memorandum.
“Several independent investigations, including by US-based Arsenal Consultancy, have exposed how the case, based on fabricated evidence, is just a witch-hunt by the state,” it said.
“We request that all the human rights activists be immediately released on bail, the case and prosecution be withdrawn and criminal proceedings be initiated against those responsible for fabricating and planting evidence,” the memorandum added.
It also briefly provided details of the findings from Arsenal Consultancy, a digital forensic lab, that said digital evidence was planted on the computer of Father Swamy and others, leading to their arrest and incarceration.
Antony further demanded the scrapping of the draconian UAPA, under which Swamy was arrested.
“Once a person is charged under the UAPA, he/she is not treated well in jail even if there is no connection with the case remotely,” the priest said, citing the example of Swamy.
Despite suffering from Parkinson’s and other age-related diseases, Swamy was denied bail by both the trial court and the high court before his death.
“If the jail authorities cared for him well or the courts had granted bail in time, I think he would have been with us,” Antony, also a Jesuit, observed.
“The investigating agency has still not filed the chargesheet and activists are languishing in jail. This is a gross violation of human rights,” the priest said.
Indian Jesuits have approached the Mumbai High Court seeking “to clear his name from the false cases” that led to his arrest, imprisonment and death in custody.
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