Page 2 - Prisoners

Ensure release of prisoners languishing unnecessarily in jails: Madras HC

The Madras High Court has asked its Registrar General to ensure that the process for release of prisoners languishing unnecessarily in jails was accelerated by completing the formalities. Filing of necessary petitions through the Legal Aid Services before the competent court should also be ensured. A division bench comprising Justices S M Subramaniam and M Jyothiraman passed the order on Monday on proceedings initiated by it. In its order, the bench said the Additional Public Prosecutor submitted that as per the prison department, 153 remand prisoners were still languishing in various prisons across Tamil Nadu even after grant of bail. As many as 22 convict prisoners were also in prison after suspension of sentence by the appellate courts. The Additional public prosecutor also submitted that there was delay in receiving the bail orders from the District courts. He submitted that as far as the High Court was concerned, order copies were received immediately, the bench added. The b

Syrian rebels free prisoners, celebrations erupt in Damascus streets

Bashar Barhoum woke in his dungeon prison cell in Damascus at dawn Sunday, thinking it would be the last day of his life. The 63-year-old writer was supposed to have been executed after being imprisoned for seven months. But he soon realised the men at the door weren't from former Syrian President Bashar Assad's notorious security forces, ready to take him to his death. Instead, they were rebels coming to set him free. As the insurgents swept across Syria in just 10 days to bring an end to the Assad family's 50-year rule, they broke into prisons and security facilities to free political prisoners and many of the tens of thousands of people who disappeared since the conflict began back in 2011. Barhoum was one of those freed who were celebrating in Damascus. I haven't seen the sun until today, Barhoum told The Associated Press after walking in disbelief through the streets of Damascus. Instead of being dead tomorrow, thank God, he gave me a new lease of life. Barhoum couldn't find

Prisoners of process: Decongestion schemes fall short of expectations

Urgently streamlining the process may be one way to turn Mr Shah's gesture into genuine relief for India's undertrials

Russian torture of Ukrainians, prisoners is crime against humanity: Experts

Russia's torture of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war is a crime against humanity, U.N.-backed human rights experts said Thursday. Erik Mse, chair of the independent commission investigating human rights violations in Ukraine, told reporters that the panel previously described Russia's widespread and systematic use of torture in Ukraine and Russia against civilians and prisoners, both men and women, as a war crime. Our recent findings demonstrate that Russian authorities have committed torture in all provinces of Ukraine that came under their control, as well as in the detention facilities that the commission has investigated in the Russian Federation, he said. Russia's U.N. Mission said it had no comment on the press conference or the report by the commission, which is appointed by the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council. Mse said the commission is an investigative body. He noted that Ukraine's prosecutor general and the International Criminal Court are investigating ...

Joe Biden praises Slovenia PM for aiding major US-Russia prisoner swap

President Joe Biden heaped praise on Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob on Tuesday for his role in the recent seven-nation prisoner swap that freed Americans Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva and Paul Whelan from Russian prison. The deal, completed in August, was the largest US-Russian prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, involving 24 people, many months of negotiations and concessions from other European countries including Slovenia that released Russians in their custody as part of the exchange. "I want to thank you for your diplomacy and for your support and your leadership," Biden said at the start of his Oval Office meeting with the Central European leader. "You made it possible. That's not hyperbole. You made it possible. Slovenia agreed to the release of Artem Viktorovich Dultsev and Anna Valerevna Dultseva, two Russian spies who were living for years in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana while posing as Argentines operating a startup IT company and an online art ...

House of Mirrors: The chilling truth behind Bangladesh's vanished prisoners

Sheikh Hasina's 15-year grip on power has ended, exposing of one of Bangladesh's most notorious secret prisons

Caste-based labour division in prisons is unconstitutional: Supreme Court

Asking the marginalised to clean and sweep 'while allowing the high castes to do cooking' is discriminatory, it says

SC says caste-based discrimination in jail manuals unconstitutional

Apex court termed 'unconstitutional' rules in jail manuals advocating caste-based work

Russia refuses to open criminal probe into Navalny's death, says widow

Russian authorities have refused to open a criminal investigation into the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny who died in an Arctic penal colony, his widow Yulia said Thursday. Navalny, the fiercest political foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in February in the remote northern prison colony while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges that he had condemned as politically motivated. Authorities said he became ill after a walk but have otherwise given no details on Navalny's death. Russian officials only said that Navalny died of natural causes shortly after taking a walk and have vehemently denied involvement both in the poisoning and in his death. In a video published Thursday on social media, Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny's widow, said she received a letter from Russian investigators detailing the cause of her husband's death. In the video, Navalnaya said she was told Navalny died from a combination of a dozen different diseases". Investigators told her Nava

Americans freed alongside Russian assassin in biggest post-Cold War swap

After a year of secret negotiations, 24 prisoners were swapped: 16 moved from Russia to the West, and eight from the West to Russia

Newly freed Americans back in US after landmark prisoner swap with Russia

The United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history on Thursday, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free. Gershkovich, Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist with dual US-Russia citizenship, arrived on American soil shortly before midnight for a joyful reunion with their families. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were also there to greet them. The trade unfolded despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War after Russian President Vladimir Putin's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Negotiators in backchannel talks at one point explored an exchange involving Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but after his death in February ultimately stitched together a 24-person deal that required significant concessions from European .

'Feat of diplomacy': Joe Biden hails prisoner exchange deal with Russia

In addition to Whelan and Gershkovich, prominent Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is a US permanent resident, and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva were also freed

Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh's killer shot dead by unknown gunmen in Pak

Amir Sarfaraz Tamba, an accused in the murder of Indian death row prisoner in Pakistan Sarabjit Singh and a close associate of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit founder Hafiz Sayeed, was killed by unidentified gunmen in Lahore on Sunday, official sources said. Tamba was attacked by motorcycle-borne assailants in the Islampura area of Lahore in Pakistan and was rushed in critical condition to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, the sources said. Singh, 49, died of cardiac arrest in Jinnah Hospital Lahore in the wee hours of May 2, 2013, after being comatose for nearly a week following a brutal assault by inmates including Tamba, inside the high-security Kot Lakhpat jail. Tamba, whose father's name is Sarfaraz Javed, was born in Lahore in 1979 and was a close associate of the LeT founder. A group of Pakistani prisoners had attacked Singh with bricks and iron rods. Singh had been allegedly found guilty of taking part in several bombings in Pakistan's Punjab province in 19

Surveillance: High tech and narcs

Two new books about state surveillance in the 21st century, one focused on China and the other on the United States, make it clear that Foucault was right

Navalny was close to being freed from prison before his death, says ally

There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin and Navalny ally Maria Pevchikh, who is based outside Russia, did not present documentary evidence for her assertion

Indian businessman donates Rs 2.25 cr to free 900 prisoners in UAE

In a pre-Ramzan gesture, a UAE-based Indian businessman and philanthropist has donated 1 million dirhams (approximately INR 2.5 crore) to ensure the release of 900 prisoners from jails across the Gulf nation. Firoz Merchant, 66, who is the owner of Pure Gold Jewellers, donated the money to the UAE authorities, a testament to the holy month's message of humility, humanity, forgiveness, and kindness. "Prominent Dubai-based Indian businessman and philanthropist Firoz Merchant of Pure Gold has donated close to Rs 2.25 Crores (AED 1 million) to ensure the release of 900 prisoners from jails across the Arabian nation," said a statement from his office. Under the aegis of The Forgotten Society initiative founded in 2008, Merchant has already been instrumental in obtaining the release of 900 prisoners across the UAE since the beginning of 2024, including 495 prisoners from Ajman, 170 prisoners from Fujairah, 121 prisoners from Dubai, 69 prisoners from Umm Al Quwain and 28 from Ras Al ...

Britain sanctions heads of Russian prison where oppn leader Navalny died

"It's clear that the Russian authorities saw Navalny as a threat and they tried repeatedly to silence him," said UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron

PM Modi thanks Qatari Emir for release of 8 jailed Indians on death row

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday thanked Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani for the release of eight Indian nationals, who were sentenced to death after being arrested here in August 2022. Modi held wide-ranging talks with the Qatari Emir primarily focusing on significantly expanding India-Qatar ties in areas of trade, energy, investment and new technology. Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said at a media briefing that Modi thanked the Emir for his support for the welfare of the Indian community in the Gulf nation. "The prime minister thanked the Emir for his support for the welfare of the Indian community, and in this regard, expressed his deep appreciation to the Emir for the release of eight Indian nationals of Al-Dahra company. We are extremely gratified to see them back in India," Kwatra said. Modi arrived in this Qatari capital city last night after concluding a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates. The Navy veterans were on October 26 given death sentenc

561 prisoners on death row in India, highest in two decades: Report

A total of 561 prisoners are on death row in the country, the highest at the end of a calendar year in two decades -- a rise of 45.71 per cent in such inmates since 2015, a report revealed. The eighth edition of the 'Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report' published by Project 39A at National Law University, Delhi said the trial courts imposed 120 death sentences in 2023 but the year witnessed lowest rate of death sentence confirmations by the appellate courts since 2000, with the Supreme Court not confirming any death sentence for a second calendar year after 2021. "The Supreme Court did not confirm any death sentence in 2023. In the High Courts, only one death sentence was confirmed by the Karnataka High Court in a murder simpliciter case. In doing so, 2023 marks the lowest rate of death sentence confirmations by the appellate courts since 2000," said the report. The report said the President of India rejected one mercy petition in March 2023 in a case of kidnapping, rap

Russian plane crashes near Ukraine with 65 Kyiv prisoners of war on board

A Russian military transport plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, six crew and three people accompanying them crashed on Wednesday morning in Russia's Belgorod region near Ukraine, Russia's Defense Ministry said. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the crash, which occurred around 11 a.m. It was also not known if anyone survived. The authorities were investigating the cause of the crash, and a special military commission was on the way to the crash site, the Defense Ministry said. Earlier Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a major Russian missile attack that apparently was devised to overwhelm Ukraine's air defenses had killed 18 people and injured 130. Ukraine is marking the 700th day since the full-scale invasion by Kremlin's forces started. The barrage employing more than 40 ballistic, cruise, anti-aircraft and guided missiles early Tuesday hit 130 residential buildings in three Ukrainian cities, all ordinary houses, Zelenskyy said on X, formerl