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A scandal of our times
The disregard for the human rights of Jagtar Singh Johal is mirrored by the British government’s contempt for rights and lives in this country, says CLAUDIA WEBBE MP
JUSTICE OVERDUE: Members of the Free Jaggi Now Campaign hand in a petition to 10 Downing Street, London

THE situation of Jagtar Singh Johal, a British citizen, and the British state’s involvement in his imprisonment and torture is one of the great scandals of our time, but one that is receiving scant attention from the government and the British media.

His detention in India in 2017 has been condemned by the United Nations for its arbitrary nature, apparently simply for being a Sikh who campaigned for religious freedom and for human rights. 

The authorities had years to try to dig up evidence against him but took until last year to bring what appear to be charges based on nothing more than hearsay — and a tip-off from the British security and intelligence services.

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