The Binayak Sen Case Update Five days later, on December 24, the Raipur sessions court will deliver its verdict in the Dr Binayak Sen case<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Dr%20Binayak%20Sen%20case>. Supriya Sharma in Raipur puts together the legal evidence and arguments by both the prosecution and defence on which the court will base its judgment.
The Jailors "Binayak Sen meet Sanyal 33 times in less than 35 days," underlined the prosecution. The defence responded that Sen visited Sanyal on his brother's request, applying on a People's Union for Civil Liberties<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=People%27s%20Union%20for%20Civil%20Liberties>(PUCL) letterhead each time, and getting clearances by the jail and police officers. "The meetings took place in the jailor's room. Instead of talking in English or Bengali, they stuck to Hindi, so that every word could be heard and understood by the supervising officer. Where does that leave room for conspiracy or passing letters?" contended Singh, Sen's lawyer. Half a dozen jail officials appeared in court and stated that all meetings between Sanyal and Sen were strictly supervised. ... When a sub-inspector Prakash Soni was kidnapped, the Maoists asked for the withdrawal of CRPF from Maoist areas in return for his release. So did PUCL, claimed Pandya. "This showed PUCL is a hiteshi sangathan or sympathetic front organisation of the Maoists. It is not even a registered body," he said. Even Rupantar, the NGO run by Sen's wife Ilina, was suspect. One of its employee Shankar Singh is a hardcore Naxal who is currently absconding, added Pandya. The defence countered: PUCL was founded by the socialist stalwart, Jayaprakash Narayan in the post Emergency years, and has boasted a series of distinguished members, including former Justices V M Tarkunde and Rajinder Sachar. As far as Rupantar goes, there are no cases against Shankar Singh, responded the defence, adding: "the state government is funding Rupantar. Should we presume the state government is funding Naxalites? This is scandalous and defamatory". 'Comrades' In two postcards seized from Sen's house, he is addressed as 'Comrade Binayak Sen'. In printouts of his computer's records, his wife Ilina Sen writes an email to 'Comrade Kusumlata'. "Comrade ussi ko kehte hai jo Maowadi hai," argued Pandya. Not true, responded the defence, even Communists use the term, it is just a takiyakalaam, a common expression. "It is a citizen's right to embrace Communism," said Singh. (Outside court, Ilina Sen clarified Comrade Kusumlata was Kusumlata Kedia of the Gandhi Institute in Varanasi). Jungle Meetings Investigating officer BBS Rajpoot claimed to have seen a video recording showing Sen meeting Naxalites inside a forest, but when questioned by the defence whether those Naxalites were armed and uniformed, he could not give a clear answer. The defence has requested the judge to watch the recording. Another police officer claimed Sen had participated in Maoist meetings in the jungle, but on cross examination, conceded it could be hearsay. Naxal Literature The objects seized from Sen's house included anti-imperialist pamphlets, postcards by jailed Maoists, and the magazine 'People's March', that the prosecution argued established Sen's sympathies for the Maoists, as well as close links. The defence pointed out that People's March was a registered publication. Invoking the freedom of speech and thought, and citing similar cases, Surinder Singh said, "reading Mao's collected speeches does not make someone a Maoist". More Letters The prosecution produced a letter that PUCL member Shoma Sen wrote to her husband, Tushar Kant Bhattacharya. Arrested in Patna and currently in Hyderabad jail, he was charged with being a Maoist. The letter said: "I am enclosing a small note from Bijoya da from jail, given to Binayak Sen". The prosecution claimed Bijoya Da is an alias for Narayan Sanyal. But the defence said it was instead a name used by Madanlal Barkhade, a jailed Maoist who had posted a note to Sen, complaining about the appalling conditions in the prison. As he concluded his brief, Sen's lawyer Surender Singh asked, "Do we not have the right to criticize the government?" He accused the government of "fabricating evidence by hook or crook with the sole motive of crushing Sen's voice", since Sen had been a fierce critic of Salwa Judum, the state supported anti-Maoist movement. These are broadly the arguments that sessions court judge B P Varma must take into account when he delivers a verdict in the case on Friday, December 24. http://www.radicalsocialist.in/articles/statement-radical-socialist/news/283-binayak-sen-case-update?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+radicalsocialist+%28Radical+Socialist%29 You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole. -AMBEDKAR http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To post to this group, send email to humanrights-movem...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to humanrights-movement+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en.
