{"id":21089,"date":"2022-09-02T10:22:44","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T10:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/?p=21089"},"modified":"2022-10-04T10:19:32","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T10:19:32","slug":"jagtar-singh-johal-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2022\/09\/02\/jagtar-singh-johal-latest-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Jagtar Singh Johal: Latest News and Everything You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"
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25,929 actions taken<\/div>\r\n\r\n
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British Government: Stop torture tip offs now<\/a><\/h6>\n\n

British blogger, Jagtar Singh Johal, may be the victim of a UK tip off which led to his unlawful arrest and torture. Now he is taking the Government to court.<\/p>\n \n Add your name<\/a>\n\n <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Who is Jagtar Singh Johal?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jagtar Singh Johal is a 35-year-old British national from Dumbarton, Scotland who has been unlawfully detained in India since 2017. He is being detained on trumped-up political charges carrying the death penalty, which are <\/a>based on a \u201cconfession\u201d that Jagtar was tortured into signing.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the latest news, it has been uncovered that UK intelligence agencies, MI5 and MI6, may have provided a tip-off that led to his detention and torture.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jagtar Singh Johal is taking the UK Government to court, as Reprieve calls for his release and UK accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Jagtar Singh Johal\u2019s story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In October 2017, Jagtar Singh Johal, a human rights activist, travelled from his home in Dumbarton, Scotland and went to India to get married.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 4 November 2017, three weeks after his wedding, Jagtar was arrested in Jalandhar, Punjab. Jagtar and his wife were out shopping when he was abducted off the street, hooded with a sack, and bundled into a police car. Jagtar was remanded in police custody immediately upon arrest. For 10 days he was held incommunicado and not allowed to see a lawyer, his family members, or a representative of the British High Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In detention, he was brutally tortured. To make the pain stop, Jagtar recorded video statements and signed blank pieces of paper which were later presented by the authorities as a \u201cconfession\u201d. The widespread use of torture by police in India has been documented<\/a> by the UN, NGOs like Amnesty International<\/a>, and India\u2019s own Law Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jagtar is at serious risk of a death sentence. In eight of the trumped-up political cases against Jagtar, he faces charges which carry the death penalty as a punishment. The risk of Jagtar being sentenced to death is high given the politicised nature of his case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jagtar has been detained for almost five years. In May 2022, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention<\/a> declared his detention arbitrary and unlawful under international law. The Working Group determined that Jagtar\u2019s detention “lacks [a] legal basis”, was based on \u201cdiscriminatory grounds\u201d owing to his Sikh faith and his \u201cstatus as a human rights defender\u201d, and that Jagtar was \u201csubjected to torture\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the latest update, evidence has now been uncovered that a UK Minister may have authorised British intelligence agencies, MI5 and MI6, to share information<\/a> with Indian authorities that led to Jagtar\u2019s arrest, detention and torture. This evidence was discovered by investigators at Reprieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: Our client, Jagtar Singh Johal, is taking the UK Government to court.

We've uncovered critical information that MI5 & MI6 might have shared information about Jagtar that led to his unlawful arrest and torture in India. #FreeJaggiNow<\/a>

A THREAD\ud83e\uddf5https:\/\/t.co\/TW0oLiKmf0<\/a><\/p>— Reprieve (@Reprieve) August 22, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>