Jagtar Singh Johal: Family 'hopeful' after foreign secretary meeting

The brother of a Scottish Sikh man detained in India for seven years says he is a "lot more hopeful" about his sibling after a meeting with the UK foreign secretary.

Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton, faces terror charges in connection with political violence in the north of India but has never been convicted.

The 37-year-old was arrested in Punjab in November 2017, just weeks after his wedding there.

His brother Gurpreet Singh Johal met the foreign Secretary David Lammy in London. He said the meeting had been positive but that "the proof was in the pudding" regarding whether it led to his brother's release.

He is accused of travelling to Paris in 2013 to hand over £3,000 to a co-conspirator in the knowledge the money would be used to fund a series of attacks against Hindu nationalists and other religious leaders in Punjab.

Mr Johal's trial for the eight most serious cases against him started in 2022 and is ongoing.

David Lammy is the fifth foreign secretary Gurpreet Singh Johal - who is a Labour councillor - has met about his brother’s case.

He said: “Over the last seven years, I’ve heard a lot of empty talk from previous Foreign Secretaries about my brother’s case.

"After today’s meeting I’m a lot more hopeful that this new Government will do what is right. David Lammy listened to what we had to say and the solutions we proposed – unlike his predecessors.

"But the proof is in the pudding – and that means getting Jagtar out of prison and back to Dumbarton.”

Mr Lammy's predecessor as foreign secretary, David Cameron, urged the Indian government to "speed up" the case after meeting the family in Scotland in February.

Speaking at the time, Lord Cameron said: "I take incredibly seriously any case of a British citizen imprisoned in another country".

In May 2022, a UN panel of human rights experts found that Jagtar Singh Johal’s detention was arbitrary and he should be released.

He has claimed he was tortured in the early days of his detention - something the Indian authorities have always denied.

Dan Dolan, the director of advocacy and policy at human rights organisation Reprieve, said the new Labour government should "do better" than the previous Conservative administration.

He said: “The foreign secretary and Prime Minister both took strong, principled positions on Jagtar’s case in opposition, recognising that he is arbitrarily detained and saying the government should seek his release.

"We’re calling on them to honour those commitments. They have an opportunity to do better than the last government and bring Jagtar home to his family in Dumbarton.”

The High Commission of India in London previously said "due process" under Indian law was being followed in the case.

Earlier this year a spokesman said: "Mr Johal is facing criminal trials in no less than eight cases of hate crimes with charges relating to extremely serious offences including terror crimes, conspiracy to murder, and merciless assassinations of people belongings to different faiths.

He added: "As his cases are before courts in India, it is for the courts to decide the next steps in his case, not the government of either country."

The Foreign Office told BBC Scotland News that they continued to support Mr Johal and his family, and that government officials have continued to visit him in detention.