A United States-based forensics firm has found evidence that Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy had incriminating documents planted on his computer, which led to his arrest and imprisonment for eight months until his death at age 84 in July 2021.
Father Swamy was arrested by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) on 8 October 2020 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, an anti-terror law, for his alleged involvement in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence, in which at least one per person died and several others were injured in violent clashes between Dalit and Maratha groups. His arrest, treatment in prison and denial of bail received widespread criticism.
According to The Washington Post, a report released on 11 December by Arsenal Consulting, which is headquartered in Massachusetts and examined an electronic copy of Father Swamy's computer at the request of the priest’s lawyers, revealed that Father Swamy’s computer was hacked in 2014 using extensive malware and an unidentified hacker had complete control of the device until it was seized by police in 2019. The report also claimed that 44 documents were planted during the period, many of which were cited by the NIA in the Bhima Koregaon case, thereby leading to his arrest.
Among the documents planted were excel spreadsheets detailing the manpower and weaponry of the People's Liberation Guerilla, others detailing strategy and tactics for Indian ‘revolution’, and a letter purportedly written by Father Swamy seeking the capture of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader. The report suggested that these documents were intended to frame the priest under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 (UAPA). The Washington Post also had the analysis examined by two digital forensic experts, who said its conclusions were sound.
Arsenal Consulting have also stated that incriminating evidence was planted in the computer of Father Swamy’s lawyer Surendra Gadling immediately after the priest’s death on 5 July 2021, and that the same hacker planted documents in activist Rona Wilson's computer. Wilson and Gadling were also accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Father Cedric Prakash, a Jesuit priest and human rights activist in India, told CSW: ‘The Arsenal Consulting Report, a highly reputed, professional and objective agency, which furnishes incontrovertible evidence of how incriminating documents were planted in the computer of Fr Stan Swamy must be taken seriously by the authorities. Fr Stan constantly and strongly asserted and maintained his innocence ever since investigations on him were first begun. He now stands vindicated! It is within the purview of the Supreme Court now to do a suo motu based on the Report - to declare immediately Stan Swamy as innocent despite the fact that he died whilst still being incarcerated; free unconditionally all those still languishing in jail in the [Bhima Koregaon] conspiracy case; and above all, to ensure that all those responsible for this heinous crime are booked without delay.’
CSW's Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘This report, with its detailed analysis that Father Stan Swamy's computer was hacked, is further proof that his arrest and the treatment meted out to him while in prison, that ultimately cost him his life, were a violation of his human rights. We call upon the Supreme Court of India to declare Father Swamy innocent, and to provide justice for those still languishing in jail in the Bhima Koregaon case.’
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