The UK Foreign Secretary has been urged to seek the release of a British activist who is arbitrarily detained in India after he was acquitted in one of several cases against him, reports The Times.
Reprieve has said that there is no physical evidence against Jagtar Singh Johal, who was detained in 2017; no CCTV footage, bank transfers or emails meaning that his ongoing detention makes a “mockery of justice.”
“The eight essentially duplicate cases against him flagrantly violate the ‘double jeopardy’ principle, which protects people from being put on trial twice for the same crime and is enshrined in both international and Indian law,” added Reprieve’s deputy executive director Dan Dolan.
Jagtar’s MP Douglas McAllister said: “The government must act now to secure Jagtar’s release.”
“This is a unique opportunity to secure a resolution with the Indian authorities and bring this young British man back to his family in Dumbarton.
“Without decisive diplomatic action, he faces being imprisoned for decades while the remaining trials drag on, despite the complete lack of credible evidence against him.”
