Release all 15 Bhima Koragaon case co-accused pending trial: UNHR chief

Michelle Bachelet expresses concern over death of Stan Swamy

All 15 co-accused in the Bhima Koregaon case should be released pending trial, said the United Nations Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday, as she expressed concern over the death of 84-year-old Jesuit priest and . The statement from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which follows similar concerns from the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and the European Union (E.U.) Human Rights Chief on Monday, said Ms. Bachelet was ‘disturbed’ and ‘saddened’ by the , and called on the Indian government “to ensure that no one is detained for exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression, of peaceful assembly and of association”. “High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet and the U.N.’s independent experts have repeatedly raised the cases of Father Stan and 15 other human rights defenders associated with the same events with the government of India over the past three years and urged their release from pre-trial detention,” said the statement issued by the OHCHR spokesperson.