Brother of British Activist Criticizes UK Government Over India Detention

Gurpreet Singh Johal, brother of British Sikh activist Jagtar Singh Johal, has accused the UK government of prioritizing trade over human rights after his brother was released on bail this week from an Indian prison where he had been held for nearly nine years.

Jagtar Singh Johal, a Dumbarton-born activist, was arrested in northern India in November 2017 while visiting to get married. Three weeks later, he alleges he was blindfolded, hooded, and bundled into a vehicle. He claims he was then tortured for three days until he signed a blank document, purportedly confessing to terrorism charges.

He has spent years imprisoned indefinitely without a full trial or convictions. Johal and his family vehemently deny the charges, which include membership of a terrorist gang and conspiracy to murder. They assert that no evidence has been produced to support these accusations. If convicted, Jagtar Singh Johal could face the death penalty.

According to Indian prosecutors, Johal's blog posts about the bloodshed in Punjab during the 1980s movement for a separate Sikh state led him to connect with activists seeking to destabilize India. Prosecutors accuse him of funding the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) in 2013 and being involved in an extremist plot involving assassinations in 2016 and 2017.

"Jagtar has been proven not to be guilty and acquitted of all charges in one case," Gurpreet Singh Johal told the Daily Mail. "If he were to get the death penalty, I would say that the British government would have a hand in this, and the hand would be lack of action over the last nine years."

Gurpreet stated that his family believes the Indian prosecution intends to keep Jagtar Singh Johal in the case, which is framed as an international conspiracy, because he is the only non-Indian national involved. Jagtar faces eight charges of terrorism in a federal court, though he has been cleared of similar charges by a Punjab court. He maintains that any previous confessions were extracted under torture.

Gurpreet described the initial turmoil of receiving a frantic call from his sister-in-law on November 4, 2017, stating that Jagtar had been taken and his whereabouts were unknown. Discouraged by what he perceived as a lack of assistance from the UK's Foreign Office, Gurpreet traveled to India with his younger brother to locate Jagtar.

He recounted the moment the chief minister of Punjab announced nationally that Jagtar was guilty of murder, a statement that profoundly affected him. Concerns for their own safety grew, and they were urged to return home.

"I've always looked back and felt I shouldn't have left my younger brother there," Gurpreet said. "That night when I came back, I cried to sleep that night on the context that I'm sleeping on a bed, and I don't know where my brother is, and it was an unbearable moment."

He added, "I still look back and say, 'could he have been out earlier if I hadn't come back?' But on the other side, everybody says, if he didn't come back, then who would have ran the campaign to date."

The family later learned of the extensive torture Jagtar allegedly endured. "I thought, how can a British national, being born and bred here, how could a British national ever be tortured? But it was evident that he could," Gurpreet said.

They received a letter from Jagtar detailing the torture, which he said involved being made to sign blank documents. Reports indicate Jagtar was subjected to electric shocks, stress positions, sleep deprivation, and death threats.

Gurpreet and his family, alongside the charity Reprieve, have been campaigning for Jagtar's release. Dan Dolan, deputy executive of Reprieve, described the charges as "politically trumped-up" and based on a confession extracted under torture.

The UN has also stated there is no rationale for Jagtar's continued detention and called on the Indian government to drop the charges.

Communication between the brothers has been sparse, with only three video calls during Jagtar's imprisonment. This week marked the first time Gurpreet has seen his brother outside of cell walls in nearly a decade.

"It has been an extensive rollercoaster having to challenge the UK Government to do more, go through the Indian legal system and it's taken nine years just to get my brother out," Gurpreet stated.

Despite the relief of his brother's release, Gurpreet acknowledged that the lost time cannot be recovered. "He could have achieved whatever he wanted to achieve. Not only has he lost that, but he's lost the nine years of married life and being able to start a family," he said. "A lot of lives have been put on hold."

A UK government spokesperson confirmed they are in contact with the family and are providing consular support. "The UK has consistently raised concerns about Mr Johal’s prolonged pre-trial detention and the importance of a full investigation into the allegations of torture and mistreatment," the spokesperson said.