segunda-feira, 1 de abril de 2019

ÍNDIA: COMITÊ PELA LIBERDADE DOS PRESOS POLÍTICOS CONDENA REJEIÇÃO DE FIANÇA PARA SAIBABA

Repercutimos em nosso blog a nota do Comitê pela Liberdade dos Presos Políticos (Índia) sobre a recente rejeição do judiciário ao pedido de libertação sob fiança por motivos de saúde do professor GN Saibaba.

No documento, o Comitê condena veementemente a repetida rejeição à liberdade sob fiança de Saibaba, ressaltando as graves e precárias condições de vida a que está sujeito o professor universitário. O Comitê também denuncia que, devido a já frágil saúde de Saibaba, as duras condições da prisão tem agravado e gerado novos doenças e demais problemas de saúde a qual enfrenta Saibaba, acrescentando que isso faz parte de um nefasto plano do governo de Maharashtra e pelas forças policiais sob o comando do governo federal para aniquilar o professor física e mentalmente. A nota aponta que diversas organizações já condenaram o estado e o tratamento desumano que tem sido dado a Saibaba, incluindo a Comissão de Direitos Humanos da ONU. 

Ainda no documento, há a denúncia de que Babu Bajrangi, líder da Bajrang Dal condenado pelo caso da revolta em Naroda Patiya de 2002, já foi libertado diversas vezes sob fiança por motivos de saúde, tanto do próprio Babu Bajrangi quanto de sua esposa e aponta que essa diferença na aplicação da lei, em momento que diversos ativistas democráticos, intelectuais, poetas e trabalhadores são perseguidos sob acusações espúrias, apenas comprova o caráter de classe da perseguição que tem sido realizada contra os ativistas. 

Abaixo, segue a nota em inglês, na sua íntegra:


COMMITTEE FOR THE RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS

185/3, FOURTH FLOOR, ZAKIR NAGAR, NEW DELHI-110025
27TH MARCH 2019

CRPP STRONGLY CONDEMNS REPEATED DENIAL OF BAIL TO PROF. GN SAIBABA,
RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT HIS WORSENING HEALTH CONDITION AND APPEALS
FOR HIS IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO ENSURE LIFE SAVING MEDICAL CARE, A
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT OF EVERY PRISONER!

13, 18, 20, 28, 39

On the 26th of March 2019, the Bombay High Court denied Prof. GN Saibaba bail despite his worsening health condition. A wheel-chair bound professor of Delhi University with 90% disability due to post-polio paralysis, a human rights activist and a political prisoner incarcerated in Nagpur Central Jail since 2014, Prof. Saibaba has been in jail after being charged under several sections of the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on charges ranging from being member of a banned organization to advocating unlawful activities. Following the dramatic abduction and arrest of Prof. Saibaba from Delhi in 2014 by the Maharashtra police, he has been portrayed as a dreaded criminal and, worse, has been treated as sub-human by the very authorities who are expected to uphold the law of the land. He has been denied basic medical care since he has been an under-trial prisoner despite being diagnosed with maladies in pancreas and gall bladder necessitating immediate surgery. He has been kept in the anda cell or in solitary confinement denying him basic facilities under harrowing conditions. Since then, his health condition has deteriorated to a point where recovery is not possible. But with this denial of bail it is clear that he is bound to suffer a slow and painful death under the custody of the state.


In addition to pre-existing health conditions due to his disability, Prof. Saibaba has developed several new lifethreatening conditions since the Nagpur Central Jail lacks the basic facilities he requires for mobility. He has developed spinal and kidney ailments in addition to his previous conditions and is entirely dependent on fellow inmates for basic movement. Essential medical care has been repeatedly denied to him by the jail authorities citing lack of personnel to transport him to hospitals in time. In the light of this, over fourteen months ago, his bail application was filed under Section 389 of Criminal Procedure citing medical reasons since he suffers from multiple ailments which urgently require surgery and continuous medical treatment. His partner, Vasantha Kumari, reached out to the courts to intervene as the prison authorities have been denying him life-saving medicines. He now suffers acute pain, often falls unconscious in his cell, and is unable to perform basic bodily functions like urination without severe pain. The court kept the bail petition hanging for months on end while
his body degenerated.

Besides the injustice of being incarcerated on fabricated and flimsy charges, this sustained denial of medical care resulted in his being reduced to a mere shadow of himself, humiliated by the suffering of his failing body and made him dependent on the goodwill of others inside jail. This reveals a vindictive and cruel attempt to kill him both in body and spirit. It is to his credit that in these harrowing conditions he has been regularly writing, translating and reaching out to the world beyond his confines through his words. Despite these torturous conditions that have been repeatedly condemned by special rapporteurs of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights among several such international bodies monitoring human rights violations across the world, he continues to languish in jail while the prosecutorial might of the Maharashtra government and police force works overtime to deny him his fundamental right to a life with dignity.

It is worth noting that while Prof. Saibaba is denied bail, just days ago the Supreme Court granted bail to Babu Bajrangi, Bajrang Dal leader convicted in the Naroda Patiya riot case of 2002, on medical grounds. It is worth noting that Babu Bajrangi has been granted bail over two dozen times since 2016 on medical grounds ranging him his own and his wife’s ill health. This curious lack of parity in the eyes of the law cannot be missed. At a time when human rights activists have been picked up from across the country and jailed on spurious charges under laws meant to detain them in jail indefinitely even while the charges against them fall apart, this denial of bail to Prof. Saibaba reveals the vindictiveness and cruelty of those in positions of power. It is worth noting that the kinds of people being targeted in this manner by the Maharashtra police and administration under the guidance of the central government include human rights activists, lawyers, poets, academics, workers and cultural activists who have worked for decades to uphold the rights of the most marginalised in the country. It is ironic that those who have worked for the release of political prisoners now find themselves behind bars.

The Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners strongly condemns the denial of bail to Prof. GN Saibaba in the light of his worsening health condition. We uphold his right to a life with dignity and appeal to all democratic forces to speak in one voice and demand his immediate release so that he can be ensured the fundamental right to life.

In protest,

SAR GEELANI (President)

AMIT BHATTACHARYYA (Secretary General)

SUJATO BHADRA (Vice President)

SUKHENDU BHATTACHARJEE (Vice President)

MN RAVUNNI (Vice President)

P. KOYA (Vice President)

MALEM (Vice President)

HANYBABU MT (Media Secretary)

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