Gurpreet Singh Johal – the brother of Jagtar Singh Johal who is arbitrarily detained in India – has told Channel 4 news in an interview that he was reassured by the Foreign Secretary that “Jagtar will always be on the agenda.”
Following his meeting with David Lammy Gurpreet went on to say that at first sight the government was engaging: “They’re willing to work with the family and Reprieve to bring Jagtar back home.”
The UK’s intelligence agencies are accused of passing information about Jagtar to the Indian authorities before he was arrested and tortured by police in the north Indian state of Punjab.
“The Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister both took strong, principled positions on Jagtar’s case in opposition,” Reprieve’s Interim Deputy Executive Director Dan Dolan said, “recognising that he is arbitrarily detained and saying the Government should seek his release. We’re calling on them to honour those commitments.”