Brother of Jagtar Singh Johal says he is ‘being mentally tortured’ through unwarranted detention
The British Sikh activist Jagtar Singh Johal, detained for seven years in an Indian jail, has been placed into solitary confinement and under 24-hour surveillance despite being acquitted of all terrorism charges against him by a Punjab court on 4 March, his family have claimed.
Johal is still facing the exact same charges in a parallel case in a clear example of double jeopardy, his brother Gurpreet said when giving testimony at Westminster to an all party committee on arbitrary detention. He said the Indian courts have not granted his brother bail, despite the prosecutor’s failure to produce any credible evidence or witnesses in the Punjab court.
Gurpreet said UK consular staff met his brother in jail on Tuesday and were told he had been put into solitary confinement with a 24-hour guard, adding no explanation had been given. Gurpreet said: “I fear for his physical and mental welfare since he is being excluded from contact with all other prisoners. He has been in jail for seven years, acquitted and now he is being further punished. He is being mentally tortured and I am concerned something is going to happen to him. The aim is to break him.”
He added that a critical window of opportunity existed after the Punjab acquittal, in which the judge was damning about the quality of evidence assembled by the Indian prosecutors, to secure his brother’s release. He said the Foreign Office had to realise his brother was not being held to secure his conviction, but to keep him in detention. “What is missing from the British government is political will. I am told the prime minister raised the case when he met the Indian external affairs minister, S Jaishankar, but I do not know what exactly they are raising, or how central it is to the conversations ministers are having.”
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Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/02/british-activist-in-solitary-confinement-in-india-despite-acquittal-family-say
Author : Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Publish date : 2025-04-02 15:17:00
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