A group of MPs from different political parties are asking Rishi Sunak to help a British man who may be sentenced to death in India.
Over 70 members of Parliament signed a letter asking the Prime Minister to urge Narendra Modi to release activist Jagtar Singh Johal right away, when he goes to Delhi for the G20 leaders’ meeting.
They claim that Mr Johal has been held against his will for more than five years without a fair reason.
The person speaking for the Prime Minister did not say if they would bring up the situation or not.
Mr Johal, who is currently 36 years old, is originally from Dumbarton, which is in Scotland. He was a person who wrote blogs and spoke up for the rights of Sikhs. The authorities in India noticed him because of this.
He went to India in October 2017 to get married. According to the campaign group Reprieve, when he was shopping with his wife, some men in regular clothes covered his head, forced him into a car, and hurt him very badly. They also made him sign empty sheets of paper.
Tory politician David Davis said on the BBC that the main responsibility of a government should be to keep its citizens safe. He also stated that if a citizen is harmed and treated unfairly, the government should strongly voice their concerns about it.
He said: “It seems like that is not happening right now, and the Foreign Office is failing to do its most important job. ”
The MPs wrote a letter saying that when Jagtar was arrested, the people questioning him shocked him with electricity and threatened to pour petrol on him and set him on fire. To stop the torture, Jagtar made videos where he said certain things and signed empty papers.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention explained that he had been singled out because of his involvement in writing public messages asking for punishment to be given to those responsible for mistreating Sikhs.
The letter from the MPs says that the UN Working Group determined that Jagtar’s ongoing imprisonment is not supported by any laws.
After almost six years, Mr. Johal is still in jail in India. He is accused of committing 10 murders and planning to commit murder along with others, all related to violent acts in India’s politics. His family say that court hearings have begun but have had to be postponed many times.
His brother Gurpreet Singh Johal, who is a lawyer and Labour councillor in Dumbarton, told the BBC: “The family is afraid that untrue accusations could turn into formal charges, leading to a wrongful conviction and possibly the death penalty. ”
He said that both former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Theresa May talked about the case with India’s prime minister. He also said that it would be really hard for Rishi Sunak to not bring up the case. If Rishi Sunak doesn’t do it, people will ask why he didn’t do it.
Since Rishi Sunak has a good connection with the Indian prime minister, it shouldn’t be difficult to request something from them. It has been almost six years, but no proof has been shown against Jagtar. These are just accusations made against him, and he should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
He said that it should be really simple to ask for Jagtar’s freedom. The UK took the right action for Nazanin and Anousheh in Iran before.
When asked if Mr. Sunak would bring up the matter, the prime minister’s spokesperson said they couldn’t predict what will be talked about.
In answer to more questions, the spokesman said the government has expressed worries about Jagtar to the Indian government “over 100 times”.
He said that they talked about getting help from their country’s representatives, following legal procedures, and finding out if there were any cases of abuse.
He said the family is getting help from the consulate and that Lord Ahmad, a government official, recently met with them.
But, in a letter sent to Gurpreet Singh Johal in July and seen by the BBC, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said he had decided it was better not to pressure India about the matter.
Mr Cleverly said that he doesn’t think asking for Jagtar to be freed would make the Indian authorities actually release him. I am afraid this could affect the teamwork that we rely on. To visit consulates, help with welfare issues, and go to court hearings.
Both Davis and Mr. Johal’s family are really mad about it. Gurpreet Singh Johal said: “Basically, it means ‘I refuse to do it and I would prefer to see him stay in jail. ‘ That’s what I understand from it. ”
Mr Davis said it sets a bad example and makes other governments more sensitive to complaints.
Gurpreet Singh Johal said that he thinks the UK is not talking about the case now because they want to sign a trade deal with India, which Rishi Sunak wants.
“They seem to be mainly focused on India, a country that is growing rapidly, and they want to finalize this trade agreement with them. It seems like they prioritize trade more than human rights,” he explained.
Mr Davis stated that he believes protecting the legal rights of British citizens should be the top priority, even if it means putting a trade deal in second place.
He said: “You don’t need to be a high-ranking official to understand that the most important thing for a British government is protecting the rights of its citizens. We will not agree to torture as a condition for making a trade deal. ” The period punctuation mark is called a full stop.