YVETTE Cooper is under pressure on a visit to India to raise the cause of a Scottish man held “unjustifiably” in an Indian prison for almost nine years.
The Foreign Secretary is being urged to secure the release of Dumbarton man Jagtar Singh Johal, whose treatment UN experts have said amounts to torture.
Speaking in the Commons on Thursday, West Dunbartonshire MP Douglas McAllister said the Foreign Secretary must make a statement confirming that she “insisted on his immediate release”.
Johal was cleared of terrorism charges last year but remains behind bars, a situation human rights experts have condemned.
McAllister said: “On April 22 this year, UN experts concluded that his prolonged detention amounts to torture, international law is unequivocal on the use of torture, and the UN has called for his immediate release.
“Can I ask the Leader of the House to ensure that the Foreign Secretary provides this House with an update or a statement upon her return confirming that not only was my constituent’s case raised today, but that she insisted on his immediate release, and does he agree that there can be no higher priority for her trip than securing the freedom of a young man from Dumbarton unjustifiably in prison for almost nine years?”
Commons Leader Alan Campbell replied: “We do continue to raise concerns about Mr Johal’s prolonged detention.
“We raised that with the Indian government and continue to provide consular support to him and to his family, and I am confident that the Foreign Secretary will want to update the House once she returns from her visit.”
In a statement released to coincide with Cooper’s trip to India, Johal’s brother Gurpreet Singh Johal said: “Each time a Foreign Minister travels to India for meetings, a part of me believes that Jagtar will be on the plane home with them. We look for tiny signs of progress and reasons to hope, and each time the disappointment is crushing.
“When I met Yvette Cooper last year, we presented a clear plan to get Jagtar home – this visit is her big chance to put it into action. She has all the tools to succeed where seven other foreign secretaries have failed. It would be devasting to hear the same weak excuses all over again.”
Johal’s case has been taken up by the human rights charity Reprieve, which has put pressure on the Foreign Office to secure his release.
The charity’s deputy chief executive Dan Dolan said: “An Indian court last year acquitted Jagtar on all charges, for lack of evidence, but he remains detained due to eight zombie cases based on the same allegation and the same torture confession. This kind of double jeopardy is prohibited in India’s constitution and international law.
“As UN legal experts recently communicated to the Indian authorities, the only just resolution is for the charges to be dropped and Jagtar released immediately. It’s past time for the Foreign Secretary to negotiate with her Indian counterparts and get this done.”
