A British national held in India over terrorism charges has been moved to solitary confinement despite being acquitted in one case last month, his family said.
Jagtar Singh Johal, 37, a Dumbarton-based campaigner for Sikh rights, has spent seven years in jail in India on terror charges that could carry the death penalty.
He was arrested in the northern Punjab state in 2017 over accusations of involvement with a banned Sikh separatist group, the Khalistan Liberation Force. Last month, Johal, prosecuted by the National Investigation Agency, was acquitted in one of the nine cases against him.
His brother told the All Party Parliamentary Group on Arbitrary Detention on Wednesday that Johal's conditions had “worsened” since the acquittal and he was being subjected to “mental torture”.
“If anything were to happen to Jagtar, personally I would say it is due to lack of action by the government because they were not taking this urgently and seriously,” Gurpreet Singh Johal said.
He said Johal had sent a note on 23 March to the British High Commission in Delhi alleging that he was kept under 24-hour armed guard and prevented from speaking to other prisoners.
"I fear for his physical and mental welfare since he is being excluded from contact with all other prisoners,” his brother said. “He has been in jail for seven years, acquitted and now he is being further punished. He is being mentally tortured and I am concerned something is going to happen to him. The aim is to break him.”
Johal has denied any wrongdoing, and a UN panel ruled that he had been “arbitrarily detained” in May 2022.
The man from Dumbarton, near Glasgow, was in Punjab for his wedding in 2017, when his family said he was arrested and bundled into an unmarked car. The UK national has been tortured, including with electric shocks, and could face the death penalty for campaigning for Sikh rights, his family and human rights organisations have said.
Johal’s family has said he was forced to sign a blank confession after being tortured in custody and made to record a video that was subsequently broadcast on Indian TV.
His lawyer Jaspal Singh Manjhpur told The Independent last month that Johal was "under tremendous mental harassment", without sharing further details.
His brother said it was “not good enough” that British foreign secretary David Lammy had offered to meet with the family in seven or eight weeks.
“The foreign secretary has raised the case but raising the case is not enough. Meeting us in seven or eight weeks’ time is not urgent enough. It should have happened yesterday,” he said.
The foreign secretary last met Johal’s brother on 30 October and raised his case with India's foreign ministry on 3 March.
Dan Dolan of the human rights organisation Reprieve said there had been “no assemblance of due process” in Johal’s case and “now is the moment” to secure his release.
Mr Dolan said the criminal cases in India had been duplicated at the federal level to “effectively extend Jagtar’s ordeal”. He argued that the previous Conservative government in the UK had “failed” Johal.
“Sadly, Jagtar’s British passport may have placed him at a disadvantage over these seven years during a period where the British government was not able to take action that was needed,” Mr Dolan told the parliamentary group.
Speaking about the charges faced by Johal, Mr Dolan said: “This case started with torture. It’s all based on torture. His detention is due to his activism and his campaigning for accountability. He has effectively been targeted by the Indian government.”
Addressing the parliamentary group, Johal’s brother urged that “political will is required to bring Jagtar back home”. “You cannot keep hiding behind the legal system.
“This is what the previous government did, and the fear is the current government hides behind the same legal system and Jagtar could be in prison for decades. I never thought I would have to fight with the Indian government to bring my brother back home, but also the British government to do more to bring my brother back home.”
Rupert Skilbeck, from the human rights organisation Redress, said Johal’s detention was intended to “break his spirit” so he could “no longer be bothered to fight whatever they are throwing at him”.
“In this case, the evidence of torture is fairly strong, but the biggest problem we have had is that the Indian government has repeatedly refused to undertake an independent medical examination at the time to see whether there was evidence of torture,” he told the parliamentary group. “And of course, if you wait long enough, then the physical signs are gone and it’s a tactic we see across the world.”
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: “We welcome the recent progress in the case. The UK government remains committed to working for faster progress on Jagtar’s case, and the FCDO continue to work to support Mr Johal and his family. The foreign secretary has offered to meet Mr Johal’s brother and representatives from Reprieve again to discuss Mr Johal’s case.”
Additional reporting by agencies
Lammy to urge allies to boost defence spending to make Nato ‘more lethal’
Hostage families urge Keir Starmer to take ‘bold steps’ in helping to end war
Government not acting ‘urgently’ on Briton detained in India, say family
UK sanctions ‘pro-Kremlin operation’ that tried to rig Moldova EU referendum
Operation Brock deployed in Kent ahead of Easter getaway
Huge blaze hits UK nature reserve as dry weather prompts major wildfire fears
