July 5, 2021: Bhima Koregaon accused Stan Swamy on Monday passed away in Mumbai’s Bandra Hospital, where he had been on a ventilator since Sunday, his lawyers said. He was 84.
Stan Swamy was being treated at the private Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai following an order by the Bombay High Court on May 28. He had tested positive for COVID-19 on May 30.
Yesterday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) directed the Maharashtra chief secretary to ensure that every possible effort was made to provide the 84-year-old jailed rights activist Stan Swamy with proper medical care and treatment as part of life-saving measure and protection of his basic human rights.
The Commission had also called for a report in the light of the allegations made in the complaint and the treatment record of Fr Swamy lodged in Taloja Jail, Navi Mumbai.
The death of 84-year old tribal rights activist as a pre-trial prisoner in the Bhima Koregaon case has led to widespread expressions.
Among those to have spoken out are Eamon Gilmore, the European Union's Special Representative for Human Rights, and Mary Lawlor, a United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders.
"The news from India today is devastating. Human Rights Defender and Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy has died in custody, nine months after his arrest on false charges of terrorism. Jailing HRDs is inexcusable," Ms Lawlor tweeted.
She attached a link to a YouTube video in which Stan Swamy explains his work.
Mr Gilmore re-tweeted Ms Lawlor's post and said: "India: I am very saddened to hear that Father 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 authorities."
The UN did not name Stan Swamy or others accused in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, including 81-year-old poet-activist Varavara Rao, who was released on bail in March after spending two years in jail.
It did, however, say: "We continue to be concerned about the situation of activists detained in India, including in the context of the Bhima Koregaon events", and urged the government to release "some of the detainees (who) are elderly and in poor health" as they await trial.
Stan Swamy, an accused in the January 2018 Bhima -Koegaon case was arrested from Ranchi on October 9, 2020. The High court was scheduled to hear his bail plea on Tuesday.
Violence erupted at an event to mark 100 years of the Bhima-Koregaon battle, leaving one dead and several injured, including 10 policemen.
The police had filed 58 cases against 162 people during a state-wide shutdown in January following clashes in Bhima-Koregaon.
Stan Swamy was arrested from his home in Ranchi by a team of NIA officials from Delhi. Several other prominent activists were also arrested, and have been jailed for over two years as they await a trial.