Tuesday 23 February 2021

Jagtar Singh Johal Campaign Response

Thank you to the many constituents who have got in touch regarding Jagtar Sing Johal. 

 I have made representation of these concerns to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and have been assured that staff have been working extremely hard to aid Mr Johal and his family, and that representations are regularly made on behalf of Mr Johal to the Government of India.  

The Secretary of State for Foreign Commonwealth and Development Affairs Dominic Raab raised Mr Johal’s case with the Indian Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, on 15 December last year. Further, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, has been very active on this important issue, and raised the case with the Indian High Commissioner on the 28th January 2021. Lord Ahmad has also met with Mr Johal’s family on a number of occasions, most recently on 27 January 2021.  

The welfare of Mr Johal is a priority for the FCDO and so is ensuring his ongoing access to his legal representatives I have also been told that the UK’s consular staff are continuing to visit Mr Johal regularly.  

This is undoubtedly a very difficult time for Mr Johal and his family and I will continue to monitor the situation closely.  

For those who are interested in this specific campaign you may also be interested in the UK recently joining over 55 like-minded allies in committing to enhance international cooperation to end the practice of arbitrary arrests, detentions or sentencing.  

You can see further details on the link below: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-backs-canadian-initiative-against-arbitrary-detention 

If you would like to discuss this further or any other matter, then please do not hesitate to contact me. 

cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk 

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