Hundreds of individuals, together with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her husband Richard, have marched on Downing Street demanding the federal government requires the discharge of a British Sikh man imprisoned in India.
Blogger Jagtar Singh Johal was detained in Punjab in 2017 and says he faces the loss of life penalty over his activism and campaigning for Sikh human rights.
The 35-year-old from Dumbarton has claimed he was crushed and electrocuted by the Punjab Police and was pressured to signal clean paperwork.
He had been in northern India for his marriage ceremony when his household say he was arrested and bundled into an unmarked automotive.
The protest, on the eve of the fifth anniversary of his detention, comes after claims MI5 and MI6 spies equipped info that led to the torture of Mr Johal.
If confirmed, it might be a breach of Britain’s dedication to human rights.
Among the protesters at this time have been Richard Ratcliffe and his spouse Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian girl who was detained in Iran for six years after being accused of plotting to overthrow the federal government.
Mr Ratcliffe, who known as the UK authorities’s dealing with of Mr Johal’s case “disingenuous”, mentioned: “While Foreign Office officials have been looking the family in the eye and promising them they are doing all they can, ministers have been prioritising fancy dinners and trade deals.”
‘They advise households to maintain quiet so the remainder of us do not see’
He advised Sky News: “It is really cold when you see it close up. They advise families to keep quiet so the rest of us don’t see.”
“The government talks about its support for the family, and about protecting British citizens. Yet here is a case, someone has been held illegally and tortured for five years, where it looks as though the UK had a role in enabling that,” he added.
‘We’ve heard so many empty phrases from the UK authorities’
Gurpreet Singh Johal, Mr Johal’s elder brother, mentioned previously 5 years “we’ve heard so many empty words from the UK government”.
He advised Sky News: “They say they’re concerned, that his case is a priority, that they’ve raised it at the highest level, but they won’t do the one thing that could make a difference, which is to demand his release.
“We won’t ever hand over campaigning for Jagtar till he is on a flight house to his household.”
Earlier this year, a panel of UN legal experts said Mr Johal’s detention was arbitrary, lacked “authorized foundation” and was based on “discriminatory grounds” owing to his Sikh faith and his “standing as a human rights defender”.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said it has consistently raised concerns about Mr Johal’s case, including his allegations of torture.
They mentioned: “The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle and we will continue to make this clear to the government of India.”
Sky News has been advised that in his journey to India final week, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly raised Mr Johal’s case together with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Lawyers for Mr Johal have launched authorized motion in opposition to the Home Office, the Foreign Office and the attorney-general over claims that the British authorities was implicated in supplying info to the Indian authorities.
The allegations on the UK’s intelligence businesses will probably be explored totally in the course of the litigation, “which is the right place to do so”, say FCDO.
The Indian authorities has been contacted for remark.
Source: information.sky.com”