Briton jailed in India transferred to prison ‘among the very worst’

The family of a British man who has spent eight years behind bars in India have warned he faces increased danger after being transferred to a jail they describe as “among the very worst”.

Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton near Glasgow, was arrested by the Indian authorities in 2017, just weeks after his wedding in the country, and has been detained there ever since.

The 38-year-old was acquitted earlier this year in a case in which he was accused of financially supporting a terror group, but he still faces federal charges by the Indian authorities.

He was recently moved from Mandoli Prison, New Delhi, to another complex in the Indian capital, Tihar Jail.

His older brother Gurpreet Singh Johal is due to meet with Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper next week as the family continue efforts to secure his release.

Before the meeting, Gurpreet Singh Johal said: “Any prison in India is a dangerous place for a human rights activist, but Tihar is among the very worst.

“It is terrifying to think of my brother locked up there. The risk that he could be attacked or even killed is not theoretical – it’s a daily reality.

“The UK Government is playing with Jagtar’s life, and I’ll be reminding the Foreign Secretary what the stakes are when we meet next week.”

Reprieve, a legal advocacy group which has been supporting Mr Singh Johal and his family, pointed to UK court judgments which showed that Tihar was considered too dangerous a destination in extradition cases.

Reprieve’s deputy executive director Dan Dolan said: “British courts have found that Tihar Jail is so dangerous people can’t be extradited there, but now an arbitrarily detained British citizen has been sent there – and his Government is showing no urgency to get him out.

“That it has taken eight years and counting to bring Jagtar home is shameful, and while the last government must share the blame, the current Government has also failed for more than a year: if they don’t act soon this failure could end in catastrophe.”

Mr Singh Johal was previously imprisoned at Tihar from 2019 to 2023, prior to being moved to Mandoli prison.

His imprisonment was recognised by a UN panel as arbitrary detention in 2022, and he has claimed to have been subject to torture.

His supporters say charges against him are politically motivated because he raised concerns about how India’s Sikh community has been treated in blog posts.

Downing Street has previously insisted the case has been raised with the Indian authorities, most recently when Sir Keir Starmer visited the country and met his counterpart Narendra Modi in October.