A Scotsman detained in India for the last five years has written a heartbreaking note to new Prime Minister Liz Truss, begging her not to trade his freedom for deals with the south Asian nation. Jagtar Singh Johal, 35, passed on the handwritten letter to his lawyer in court in Delhi this morning, after yet another pre-trial hearing was cancelled.
Jagtar, 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 UK citizen says 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.
The powerful note, shared with the Record, firstly congratulates Ms Truss on her appointment as Prime Minister and references her achievements on releasing two UK citizens from an Iranian prison, but asks if she will do anything for him and another prisoner, Christian Michel, who has been held in India since December 2018.
He writes: "Congratulations on your appointment as Prime Minister. I am hoping that you show more guts than your predecessors when it comes to addressing the issue of UK citizens languishing in Indian prisons for years without trial.
"Just a few days ago I came across an article which mentioned your achievements as Foreign Minister, one of which was securing the release of two UK citizens from Iranian prison. I hope during your visit to India as you seek to finalise trade deals, you do not overlook the fact that two UK citizens (myself and Christian Michel) are being held in Tihar jail in separate but highly politically motivated cases.
"The UK Government must take note of this and make a stand and act in order to secure our release. Otherwise as is evident with cases of Sikh political prisoners and minorities in India, decades can pass waiting for justice. It is my hope that our freedom will not be traded in return for increased trade with India."
Today's hearing was adjourned, yet again, because the senior prosecutor failed to show up and the National Investigation Agency sought yet another adjournment. So Jagtar was unable to plead not guilty. There have now been almost 200 pre-trial hearings in the case.
Jagtar's brother Gurpreet Singh Johal: “It is a bittersweet feeling reading this note. My brother’s strength and determination come through loud and clear. We get so few opportunities to communicate with Jagtar and seeing his words, in his own writing, it’s almost like he’s in the room with us.
"But that just reminds me how badly we miss him and need him home with us in Dumbarton. As Prime Minister, Liz Truss is the only person who can end our nightmare, by demanding Jagtar’s release immediately.”
Jagtar has been imprisoned without trial for almost five years. A panel of UN legal experts has found that his detention is arbitrary, and as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson acknowledged that there is no legal basis for Jagtar's imprisonment.
An Urgent Question has been granted on Jagtar's case after PMQs today. MPs from all parties are expected to call for his immediate release and put the new PM and new Foreign Secretary under pressure.
An online letter launched yesterday by the Sikh Federation UK and will be handed in at 10 Downing Street during a protest expected to attract over a thousand on next Wednesday.
Lat month British spies at MI5 and MI6 were accused of supplying information that led to the abduction and alleged torture of Jagtar. Lawyers for the Scot 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.
Reprieve's Director Maya Foa: “As Martin Luther King wrote ‘justice too long delayed is justice denied’. Jagtar has already spent almost five years in pre-trial detention with the threat of a death sentence hanging over him. United Nations legal experts and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson have stated that there is no legal basis for Jagtar’s imprisonment. The only appropriate remedy is his immediate release - and that is only likely to happen if the UK Government demands it.”
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