Release Stan Swamy on humanitarian grounds: German human rights commissioner

A Catholic priest holds a placard with the image of Father Stan Swamy during a protest against his arrest in the Bhima Koregaon case, at Secunderabad in Telangana. File pic

Expressing concern over the incarceration of Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy, Bärbel Kofler, the German Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Assistance, said he should be released on humanitarian grounds.

Calling him a "strong advocate of tribal rights," Kofler said in a tweet, "Given his age and health condition, I urgently appeal to the relevant authorities to consider his release on humanitarian grounds."

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Swamy is one of the 16 rights activists, lawyers and academics arrested in the Elgar Parishad case, currently being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

On Thursday morning, the German Embassy to India retweeted Kofler's post.

The 84-year-old activist recently tested positive for Covid-19. He is suffering from Parkinson's disease and several other ailments and was shifted to Holy Family Hospital from Taloja jail on May 28, following Bombay High Court's orders.

The Elgar Parishad case is related to inflammatory speeches made at a conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, the police claimed, triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.