The Indian Association of People’s Lawyers called for the unconditional release of advocates Chikkudu Prabhakar and Balla Ravindranath from Telangana and A Murugan from Tamil Nadu, and to end the harassment of lawyers from the JagLag (Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group). It also released a statement that “these instances are not only an assault on an advocate’s right to fearlessly practice their profession but also a violation of the fundamental right of all arrestees to get legal representation and their right to fair trial” and that the Indian government “desist from branding, threatening, harassing and arresting any Advocates defending their clients, particularly political prisoners”.

Arjun Sheoran (@arjunsheoran) tweeted: "Yesterday there were protests across the world and in India to mark the #DayofTheEndangeredLawyer"

Why a group of advocates in India are marking the Day of the Endangered Lawyer

By Aarefa Johari

Human rights lawyers in India are increasingly being hounded by state agencies, because their work confronts alleged atrocities perpetuated by the government and the police. This was the message that members of the non-profit Indian Association of People’s Lawyers sent out at a small gathering of lawyers and activists in Mumbai on Tuesday evening, in the hope of drawing international attention to the cause of “endangered lawyers” in India.

The gathering was organised to commemorate a little-known occasion: the Day of the Endangered Lawyer, an annual, international initiative observed on January 24 by lawyers’ collectives and bar associations around the world. Founded by Dutch advocates Hans Gaasbeek and Symone Gaasbeek-Wielinga in 2010, the Day of the Endangered Lawyer aims to bring justice to persecuted human rights lawyers by raising international awareness and petitioning state authorities of various countries to uphold their rights.

Organisers of this Day commemorate lawyers in different focus countries each year. This year’s focus country is China, where over 300 lawyers and civil society activists have been illegally detained, harassed and even tortured by the state since 2015.

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