Activists hold protest at district collectorate to demand release of Stan Swamy

The delegation of activists submitted their demands to District Collector Rajendra Deshmukh.

Stan Swamy, 83, waits as the buck is passed on his sipper and straw

Swamy's defence team says his wait for the two items, which have been in his possession as “an integral part of his basic necessities” for the past few years, continues.

Activists of various organisations held a protest at the Pune district collectorate on Thursday to demand the release of 83-year-old Stan Swamy, the Jesuit priest from Jharkhand who has been arrested by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case.

Father Malcolm Sequiera and Prashant Kedari of Regional Christian Society, Rahul Dambale of Republican Yuva Morcha, Anjum Inamdar of Mulnivasi Muslim Manch, and Baba Kamble of Kashtakari Panchayat, among others, took part in the protest.

The delegation of activists submitted their demands to District Collector Rajendra Deshmukh.

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The activists condemned Swamy’s arrest, saying he has been falsely implicated and his arrest was an attempt to defame Christian missionaries. They demanded his immediate release.

“We are preparing for a statewide movement seeking the release of Stan Swamy through legal and constitutional ways,” said Kedari.

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