Prisoners

Govt gets SC notice on plea asking better facilities for disabled prisoners

The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Centre on a plea seeking adequate facilities for disabled prisoners in jails, and implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, in prisons across the country. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice to the Union of India and others on a plea filed by activist Sathyan Naravoor. "Issue notice, returnable within four weeks," it said. Citing instances of professor G N Saibaba and activist Stan Swamy to highlight the "severe neglect" of disabled prisoners, the plea said necessary provisions should be incorporated in the existing Prisons Act to address the special needs of disabled inmates. Former Delhi University professor Saibaba died on October 12 last year at a state-run hospital in Hyderabad due to health-related complications, seven months after he was acquitted in a case of alleged links with Maoists after 10 years in prison. Swamy, arrested in the Bhima-Koregaon case, died at Mumbai's

Russian crypto expert Alexander Vinnik returns to Moscow in prisoner swap

Alexander Vinnik, a Russian cryptocurrency expert who faced Bitcoin fraud charges in the United States, returned to Russia on Thursday after being freed in a swap that saw Moscow release American Marc Fogel, Russian news agencies reported. Alexander Vinnik arrived in Moscow on a flight from Turkey, where he was flown after being released from custody in California, Russia's state Tass and RIA-Novosti news agencies reported, citing Russian aviation officials and his lawyer. Vinnik, who operated cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, was arrested in 2017 in Greece at the request of the US on cryptocurrency fraud charges and was later extradited to the United States where he pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Steve Witkoff, a special envoy for US President Donald Trump, left Russia with Fogel earlier in the week and brought him to the White House, where Trump greeted him on Tuesday. Fogel, an American history teacher who was deemed wrongfully detained by Russia

MP tops in providing assistance to poor prisoners for bail, fines: CM Yadav

Under the initiative, economically weaker prisoners are granted financial aid of up to Rs 25,000 for paying fines

Released Palestinian prisoners arrive to celebrations in West Bank

Thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank city of Ramallah celebrated the arrival of buses carrying dozens of prisoners released as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire. Israel said it released a total of 200 prisoners after Hamas freed four young, female Israeli soldiers. The prisoners include 120 who were serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks on Israelis. Around 70 were released into Egypt. Hamas militants handed over four captive female Israeli soldiers to the Red Cross in Gaza City on Saturday after parading them in front of a crowd. Israel followed with the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners or detainees as part of the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The four Israeli soldiers smiled broadly as they waved and gave the thumbs-up from a stage in Gaza City's Palestine Square, militants on either side of them and a crowd of thousands watching before they were led off to waiting Red Cross vehicles. They were likely acting under duress, with previously

Hamas frees 4 Israeli women soldiers in major prisoner swap under ceasefire

Hamas released four Israeli female soldiers in a prisoner swap, handing them to the Red Cross in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners, under a ceasefire deal aiming to end Gaza's 15-month conflict

Centre urges states, UTs to ensure undertrial prisoner relief in jails

MHA had issued an advisory to the states and UTs in this regard on October 16 last year and had requested them to provide the benefit of the provisions of Section 479 of BNSS to all eligible prisoners

India has signed 31 bilateral pacts on transfer of sentenced persons: Govt

India has signed 31 bilateral agreements on transfer of sentenced persons by virtue of which the Indian prisoners lodged in foreign countries can be transferred to India to serve the remainder of their sentence and vice-versa, the government informed Parliament on Thursday. Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said this in a written response to a query in the Rajya Sabha. He was asked whether the government has put in place a robust mechanism to transfer the Indians languishing in jail in foreign countries to India so that they can serve the remaining sentence in the country. "The government attaches high priority to the safety, security and well-being of Indians in foreign countries, including those in foreign jails," he said. The minister said India has "signed 31 bilateral Agreements on Transfer of Sentenced Persons by virtue of which Indian prisoners lodged in foreign countries can be transferred to India to serve the remainder of their sentence and ...

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