Dumbarton man ‘arbitrarily’ detained for 5 years seeks justice
A Scottish Sikh man, who was arrested by Indian authorities in 2017 for alleged terror offences, has been waiting to stand trial for about five years now. He was arrested while he was in Punjab celebrating his wedding.
It was announced by the United Nation’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that Jagtar Singh Johal’s arrest was arbitrary and asked the Indian government to release him immediately. It has also been said that his detention is a violation of international human rights, after investigating the matter.
The Indian government, however, argued that the arrest was based on “sufficient prosecutable evidence”, was not discriminatory based on the Dumbarton man’s religion and that his rights were being “honoured”.
His brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, has been campaigning against the detention and said, “We’ve known from the start that there’s no good reason for Jagtar’s imprisonment and the Indian authorities haven’t produced any evidence against him. The UK government hasn’t listened to us, but perhaps it will listen to the UN and call for his release. There have been so many setbacks but on a day like this, we’re dreaming of the moment my brother steps off a plane in Scotland to be reunited with his family.”