A Scots MP will call on Rishi Sunak to act 'urgently' to bring home imprisoned Jagtar Singh Johal who faces the death penalty in India after a false conviction.
Mr Johal was detained under India’s anti-terrorism laws following his arrest in November 2017, accused of helping fund a Sikh-on-Hindu assassination plot – something he strongly denies.
His local MP Martin Docherty-Hughes says the Prime Minister is yet to reach out to the Dumbarton man's family despite Boris Johnson previously acknowledging Jagtar's arbitrary detention, and Liz Truss meeting with the family last year.
Martin will be bringing Johal's case to a General Debate at Westminster on Thursday, speaking beforehand, he said: “My constituent Jagtar Singh Johal’s case is turning into one of the most prominent miscarriages of justice of our time.
“Jagtar and his family have suffered for too long - it is time to bring him home.”
“After 5 years of incarceration in India without trial, believed tortured, this young Scot from Dumbarton is at risk of facing the death penalty.
“The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has made clear that Jagtar’s detention ‘lacks legal basis’ and that he has been ‘subjected to torture’.
“This cannot continue. The UK government needs to catch up with the legal consensus and urgently change its strategy.
“We witnessed first-hand, through the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, that the UK government can bring their people home. We must see a similar approach with Mr Johal."
Jagtar was in Punjab in northern India for his wedding in November 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 UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has determined that Johal’s detention "lacks legal basis", was based on “discriminatory grounds” owing to his Sikh faith and his “status as a human rights defender”, and that he was “subjected to torture”.
International human rights groups ‘Reprieve and Redress’ have called on the UK government to intervene urgently in the case, citing concerns that Jagtar faces trumped-up political charges carrying the death penalty.
Johal's brother Gurpeet told the Record in November that he fears Johal will be killed quickly if he is convicted and sentenced to the death penalty.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
