JAGTAR Singh Johal has written a letter to new Prime Minister Liz Truss demanding she make a stand against his imprisonment in India and work to secure his release.
Originally from Dumbarton, Johal was in Punjab in Northern India in 2017 following his wedding when his family say he was arrested by plain clothes officers and bundled into an unmarked car after being accused of being involved in a Sikh extremist group.
For more than five years, he has been in jail awaiting trial and faces a potential death sentence under India’s anti-terror laws.
It emerged last month UK intelligence agencies have been accused of sharing information about Johal with the Indian Government which ultimately led to his arrest.
Johal – known as Jaggi – was due to appear in court today to enter a plea in six of the cases brought against him by the National Investigation Agency, but the hearing was adjourned because the senior prosecutor failed to show up.
However, he did give a handwritten letter to his lawyer addressed to Liz Truss in which he asked her to prioritise securing his release from Tihar jail over finalising any trade deals with India.
He also raised the case of Christian Michel James, another British national who is being held in Tihar jail for his alleged part in the AgustaWestland bribery scandal by Congress-led UPA Government in 2013, whereby money was supposedly paid to middlemen and Indian officials to purchase helicopters for high-level politicians.
Johal said in his letter that “decades could pass waiting for justice” if Truss did not intervene.
He highlighted her success in securing the release of two UK citizens from Iranian prison – Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori – while she was foreign secretary and urged her to not trade his and James’s freedom for increased trade with India.
His letter states: “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 had come 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 political motivated cases.
“The UK Government must take note of this and make a stand and act in order to secure our release.
“Otherwise, it 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.”
Truss – as former international trade secretary - signed off on the India-UK Enhanced Trade Partnership in May last year which marked the starting point of ongoing free trade agreement negotiations.
Campaigners including human rights organisations Redress and Reprieve and his MP Martin Docherty-Hughes have long called for Johal’s release, and have repeatedly urged the UK Government to take action to help secure his freedom.
After reading the note, Johal's brother Gurpreet Singh Johal said: “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.”
Johal’s wife pleaded with the UK Government to intervene in the case in November last year in an open letter to former prime minister Boris Johnson, marking four years since her husband’s detention.
A report published by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, a body of independent human rights experts, then concluded in May this year there was no legal basis for his continued imprisonment.
In June, Johnson stated for the first time that the Indian government is arbitrarily detaining Johal in a letter to Labour leader Keir Starmer. It is understood Truss has not herself declared this or called for his release.
The following month, Johal was formally charged with conspiracy to murder and being a member of the Khalistan Liberation Force, a banned terrorist gang.
Reprieve's Director Maya Foa added: “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 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.”
