Interview With Sudha Bharadwaj, Bhima Koregaon Accused And Human Rights Lawyer

This is the 20th episode of our podcast, Your Weekly Fix.

In today’s episode we speak to Sudha Bharadwaj, human rights lawyer and trade unionist who has worked with the most marginalised in Chhattisgarh over the last three decades.

In Dec last year, the activist-lawyer was released on bail. Bharadwaj is one of a group of 16 activists, academics, lawyers and writers who have spent three years behind bars in what is known as the Bhima Koregaon case. Bharadwaj’s bail conditions stipulate that she cannot speak about the case. In this interview she documents her life’s work.

About the case: The National Investigation Agency has alleged that Bharadwaj and others were part of a conspiracy to incite violence at the Bhima koregaon war memorial near Pune on January 1, 2018. In February last year, The Washington Post reported that an American digital forensics firm found that key evidence against the activists and intellectuals arrested, was planted using malware on a laptop seized by the police. The malware was used to infiltrate a laptop belonging to activist Rona Wilson before his arrest and deposited at least 10 incriminating letters on his computer. The Pune Police used letters it found on the laptop as its primary evidence in the chargesheet they filed in the Bhima Koregaon case. Months later, the forensics firm alleged that evidence, mostly in the form of incriminating letters, were also planted on the laptop of another accused, Surendra Gadling using malware NetWire. The continued imprisonment of these activists and academicians in the Bhima Koregaon case based on allegedly flimsy evidence has been criticised by members of civil society. The trial is yet to begin in the case. Lawyers for the accused have stated that the purpose of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) was “not to convict, but to keep in jail as long as possible” those held under provisions of the Act.


Writer and host: Smitha Nair
Audio producer: Sujit Lad

Graphics designer: Rubin D'Souza


Subscribe to get the latest podcasts from Your Weekly Fix - https://bit.ly/2M9WTXn​​

For the latest news and analysis - https://scroll.in

Support our award-winning journalism by making a financial contribution towards the Scroll Ground Reporting Fund - https://scroll.in/contribute

Follow Scroll.in here -
Facebook: https://facebook.com/scroll.in/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/scroll_in
Instagram: https://instagram.com/scroll_in/
Mastodon: https://masthead.social/@Scroll