Miliband challenged to ‘push much harder’ to help Scot released from Indian jail

A Scot who was released from an Indian jail after almost nine years imprisoned there is still in a “really dangerous and precarious situation”, campaigners working on his behalf have insisted.

Dan Dolan, the deputy chief executive officer of the human rights organisation Reprieve, said that although Jagtar Singh Johal may have been released from prison on bail on Thursday, he is “still in really grave danger” and under “very serious restrictions” while he is in Delhi.

Both he and Mr Johal’s local MP Douglas McAllister are calling on the Foreign Office to strike a deal with the Indian government that can bring the Scot home.

Mr Johal, a human rights activist from Dumbarton, travelled to India to get married in 2017, but just weeks later he was arrested over alleged terrorism offences, with his supporters saying he was tortured.

Those campaigning on Mr Johal’s behalf say while he has been released from prison he still faces  restrictive bail conditions and has had to surrender his passport – while also still facing trial in a number of remaining cases which could end in capital punishment.

Jagtar Singh Johal after being released from prison on bail in India (FreeJaggiNow campaign/PA)

PA Wire

Mr Dolan told BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme that while Mr Johal “may have walked out of the prison, he is not a free man”.

Speaking about Mr Johal, the campaigner said: “He is still facing the death penalty on what are completely trumped-up political charges, which are based on a confession he gave under torture, so it is a forced confession.”

Mr Dolan continued: “While he’s in Delhi he’s under extremely stringent bail conditions. He is not able to travel without permission to see his family elsewhere in the country, he is not able to speak about the case.

“His safety and security is under question because he doesn’t have family in Delhi, he has just been released into the city.

“It’s a really dangerous and precarious situation for him, not least because the death sentence remains hanging over his head.”

He insisted: “What needs to happen is the UK Foreign Office needs to negotiate with its Indian counterparts and get Jagtar back to his home and family back to Dumbarton.”

Mr Dolan added: “We really need to bring this to a close now, it has dragged on far too long.”

His comments came after Mr McAllister, the MP for West Dunbartonshire, insisted that as far as the case is concerned, “the fight is not over”.

Speaking about Mr Johal, the MP said: “He’s subject to bail, but he can’t leave India.

“There are eight outstanding cases hanging over him. These charges, if convicted, carry the death penalty.

“So successive governments and successive foreign secretaries have failed Jagtar previously.

“Their actions haven’t been good enough, and our new foreign secretary must push much harder now to bring a swift conclusion to these cases.”

Mr McAllister, Labour MP for West Dunbartonshire, said that Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband earlier this month assured him that the case remains a priority for him and called on him to press for a swift resolution.

He said the Government needs to “reset” its approach to fighting the “ongoing injustice” and push harder for a diplomatic solution.

Calling for action from Mr Miliband, he insisted: “He has to do more to bring Jagtar home, to bring him home to Dumbarton, to his family where he belongs.”

On Thursday Mr Johal’s brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, told the Press Association his release was “a moment of joy but also of sorrow” that it has taken nearly nine years “to get to this stage”.

Mr Johal was acquitted last year in a case in which he was accused of financially supporting a terror group, but he still faces federal charges in the country related to the same allegations.

A group of UN experts said his imprisonment is an example of arbitrary detention, where a person is jailed without a legal basis, and said he has endured “a form of psychological torture”.

Indian authorities have previously denied the torture claim and have repeatedly maintained due process is being followed.