British spies at MI5 and MI6 have been accused of supplying information that led to the abduction and alleged torture of a Scottish Sikh. Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton, was in Punjab in northern India for his wedding in 2017, when his family say he was arrested and bundled into an unmarked car.
The 35-year-old said he has been detained and subjected to torture, including electric shocks, and faces the death penalty over his activism and campaigning for Sikh human rights. Now, lawyers for Johal have lodged a complaint after human rights group Reprieve identified his case among anonymised details published in the annual report by the UK’s investigatory powers commissioner.
It sets out how MI5 and MI6 passed information about a British national to foreign authorities who then detained and tortured them, which matches details in Johal’s case. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he had raised Mr Johal’s case during a trip to India in April this year.
Gurpreet Singh Johal, Jagtar’s brother, said: “I never imagined the scenes I’d seen in horror movies of people being abducted by a foreign government and violently tortured could become a reality for someone in my family. When it did, I expected our Government would do everything in its power to save my brother. The twist is that not only has our Government abandoned one of its own citizens, it’s actively betrayed him.”
Maya Foa, the director of Reprieve, said: “It was already a scandal that, when a British national was snatched off the street by Indian authorities while on his honeymoon, Boris Johnson left him to rot for five years before finally admitting he was being arbitrarily detained.
“Now it appears the UK Government hasn’t just been negligent, but may have unlawfully enabled his abduction and brutal torture through a tip-off to the Indian authorities. We’re talking about a British blogger who United Nations experts say has been targeted because he spoke out against abuses committed against the Sikh community in India – the UK Government must finally bring him home.”
The family’s MP, Martin Docherty-Hughes, said: “What I find extraordinary is the present Prime Minister, only a few weeks ago before Parliament went into recess, made it clear that he believes that Jagtar’s detention is arbitrary.”
Docherty-Hughes said his constituent has never faced any charges, adding: “He’s now been languishing in an Indian jail for nearly five years come November. That says to me that there is no case to answer.”
Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: “These allegations are extremely serious and very alarming. No one – especially not a British citizen – should ever face torture or execution as a result of information shared by the UK’s intelligence services."
“Government Ministers must urgently explain whether they authorised this intelligence-sharing and if so why. This is sadly not the first case like this we have seen, but it must be the last.
An FCDO spokesman said: “It would be inappropriate for us to comment while legal proceedings are active.”
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