New Delhi: Elgar Parishad case accused Stan Swamy(84), priest activist died on Monday in the middle of his fight for bail on health grounds. He was arrested under an anti terror law in the Elgar Parishad case in 2020.

The Jesuit priest had been on a ventilator since Sunday when his health took a sharp turn for the worse. Stan Swamy had filed a fresh plea for bail in the Bombay High Court, last week. Challenging the stringent conditions for bail to an accused charged under the UAPA. When the hearing started on Monday, his lawyer told the High Court that the activist had died at 1.30 pm.

As per the Mumbai Court order on May 28^th Stan Swamy was being treated at the private Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai. The NIA had suggested a government hospital, to which, he had said: I’d rather die here in prison.

Stan Swamy spent the last few months of his life fighting legal battles for even the smallest of needs, jailed near Mumbai since October. In December, he was allowed a straw and a sipper in jail, which he had requested in Court on account of Parkinson’s disease. He had requested medical treatment and interim bail multiple times.

The NIA, which arrested him in October from his home in a widely criticized late night swoop, opposed his bail request in Court and had said there was no conclusive proof of his medical ailments. The NIA held firm to its argument that Stan Swamy was a Maoist who had plotted to cause unrest in the country.

Stan Swamy had told the High Court via video conferencing that his health had consistently declined at the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai and if he was not granted interim bail, he would die soon.

Messages and tributes poured in, with opposition parties and activists accusing the Government of hounding the elderly activist UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, shared his video along with a message:

“The news from India today is devastating. Human Rights Defender and Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy has died in custody, nine months after his arrest on false charges of terrorism. Jailing HRDs is inexcusable, EU’s Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore.

Stan Swamy, who had worked with tribals in Jharkhand for over five decades, was accused by the NIA of links to Naxals, especially the banned CPI (Maoists). He was arrested from his home in Jharkhand capital Ranchi by a team of NIA officials from Delhi. He had denied the charges and had flagged his health worries to investigators.