A Scottish activist who has spent almost a decade in prison in India has been released on bail.
Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton, was arrested by Indian authorities in 2017, in connection with alleged terror offences.
The Indian authorities accused him of having a role in a series of targeted killings of religious and political figures.
The 39-year-old was acquitted last year in a case in which he was accused of financially supporting a terror group.
However, he still faces federal charges lodged by the Indian authorities and could still face the death penalty.
Mr Johal’s brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, said the High Court in Delhi had overturned a previous court’s decision and granted him bail earlier this month.
He was officially released from prison on Thursday with strict bail conditions, including surrendering his British passport and not making any public comments about the case.
Gurpreet Singh Johal said: “There have been so many setbacks and disappointments in the last nine years that I didn’t dare to believe it until I saw Jagtar walking out of the prison gates with my own eyes.
“The last two weeks have been torture – knowing that Jagtar had been granted bail, but the authorities were refusing to let him out.
“I’ll sleep well tonight, knowing that he’s not behind bars. Tomorrow morning, the fight continues, because he’s still on trial and facing the death penalty for something he didn’t do, trapped in a sham legal process designed to punish him for standing up for human rights. We’ll keep on fighting until he’s home with us. Now it’s over to the UK Government to get it done.”
Reprieve deputy executive director Dan Dolan added: “While tonight is the first night in almost nine years that Jagtar Singh Johal is not caged in a prison cell, he still has the threat of a death sentence hanging over him.
“It should also be noted that despite bail being ordered, the prison refused to release Jagtar until his family brought a habeas corpus petition, and a judge warned the jail they’d be found in contempt of court.
“Jagtar remains on trial in cases that could last for decades and end in capital punishment, centered on a baseless allegation that has been thrown out in court for lack of evidence. His bail conditions deny him any semblance of a normal life.
“The foreign secretary should seize the moment and find a way to bring this young British citizen home to his family in Scotland as soon as possible.”
Earlier this year, UN experts claimed Jagtar was being tortured while in prison.
Mr Johal’s imprisonment was recognised by a UN panel as an arbitrary detention in 2022.
Indian authorities have denied the torture claim and have repeatedly maintained that due process is being followed.
Mr Johal’s family has been supported in the campaign to secure his release by human rights group Reprieve, which has repeatedly argued that the Indian authorities have no case against him.
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