Reaction: #WestMidlands3 win battle against extradition
Yesterday UK Sikhs celebrated a historic victory against Indian State persecution, as three British Sikhs saw an extradition attempt against them thrown out by Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Known as the #WestMidlands3, since their arrest in December 2020 shortly after public UK-India post-Brexit trade discussions, masses of the UK Sikh community have publicly criticised the extradition attempt. The extradition attempt was viewed as yet another move by the Indian State to target Sikh activists, whilst simultaneously drawing attention away from increased criticism against the nation’s human rights breaches amid the ongoing #FarmersProtest.
Here we share reaction to the momentous news.
The moment two of the #WestMidlands3 came out of Westminster Court having beaten India’s extradition attempt.
In statements made outside of Westminster Court, sevadaars (selfless servants) of Sikh Human Rights relayed important facts about the case, including:
-Information obtained by the #WestMidlands3 legal team found out there were up to 40 other extradition attempts being lined up by India, recognised through Interpol red flags against British Sikhs
-The original case regarding the assassination of Rulda Singh which the #WestMidlands3 were being investigated about described the accused as “clean-shaven”, showing how strange the pursuit of the three practicing Sikh men with beards and turbans was, given that description
-Punjab Senior Police Officer Rajinder Sohal, one of the key figures behind the allegations against the #WestMidlands3, was investigated for his role in the 1993 murder of a human rights lawyer, just one of many human rights abuse allegations against him. The same officer is right now involved in the cases against Jagtar Singh Johal and named as one of those that tortured him
-The Sikh Human Rights will push for an independent inquiry into why the UK Home Office agreed to the extradition, even though the three had previously been cleared against the allegations put against them in 2011, and also an inquiry into why Matt Ward of West Midlands Police agreed to sanction raids against the #WestMidlands3 without any evidence of crimes by them
Adding to the information about the extradition attempt, famed human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce made a statement which is certain to send shockwaves through the British govt and beyond, saying:
“This case was always exceptional. A request was made by the Indian govt for the extradition of three men, whom the (UK) govt must have known were innocent of the charges. They must have known because the Indian govt today withdrew the case, abandoned the case, based on having no evidence. This is an extraordinarily serious matter, that a govt knowing the evidence it has, can go against three men in another country and hope to obtain their extradition to India.
“There are more reasons than the lack of evidence to drop the case today. This case is being tried not for the first time in this country. What the Indian govt did not tell the court was that there have been trials of this case involving other men in India over many years and they have all been acquitted. The judgements in those cases, serious judgements by Indian judges, said the evidence, the same evidence produced here, was fabricated, that witnesses were coerced and witnesses did not say what the prosecution said they said. How can it be that prosecutors are able to try and try and try again based on the same discredited evidence?
“In some ways it is a disappointment that this case has finished without the defence evidence being heard. The defence evidence would have been important to tell a convincing history of the behaviour of particular police towards the Sikh community. The repeated use of legislation with enormous reach – Unlawful Activities Prevention Act – we in the defence were astonished when we began to understand the record of how people in India can be arrested and proceeded against year-after-year without ever having been brought to trial. This case, if it had been heard in full, would have had importance to understanding the process of law as it is brought against the Sikh community in India. It would have helped to understand how brave lawyers in India are combatting these oppressive laws. And it would have helped to understand how a British man – Jagtar Singh Johal – has been detained year-after-year after year on evidence of the same kind; a wafer thin case based on a confession that has come from torture.
“But of extreme interest to us in investigating was that police officers in this case being used to support the prosecution have themselves been convicted in disappearances, torture and murder. They have been convicted, yet continue to serve as police officers. And one of those officers we were astonished to note, is one of those officers identified by Mr Johal as having been involved in his torture. All of this is relevant to what steps can and should be taken by this country in relation to the position of people like Mr Johal, a British citizen in India at the time. We hope that what comes out of this case is that it is not fitting to simply accept what a govt says. We have a duty to inquire far further. We know there are many MPs that have expressed their concern and support for the defendant in this case and we hope that what we have learnt can lead to real change and real recognition and that the foreign secretary can take up arms in the case of human rights of people who are detained there (in India). So we have had a learning exercise and now it is our duty to share it.”
MPs such as Claudia Webbe highlighted this statement and prompted the British govt to answer questions about it.
Following such statements and the clarity around how depraved a move it was for the UK Home Office to agree to extradite the men, calls were raised for Home Secretary Priti Patel to resign. Patel herself is an open supporter of the Hindu extremist group the RSS, the militants that are central to anti-Sikh movements in India.
The Sikh Federation UK are leading these calls, with a statement from them highlighting how Edward Fitzgerald QC, representing one of the three Sikhs, said the extradition request was “made on the basis of wholly unsubstantiated allegations”, and also that “District Judge Michael Snow was far from impressed…and questioned why the Home Secretary, Priti Patel in December 2020 had certified the extradition request and ordered a judge to issue arrest warrants.”
Further reaction included thoughts that the extradition attempt was purely political. Whilst others highlighted the lack of media attention to the case.
In regards to media coverage of the case, Sikh Press Association Senior Press Officer Jasveer Singh said, “Whilst the British Sikhs celebrate the victory of the #WestMidlands3 extradition hearing, it is a damning reflection of the UK media that coverage of the case fails to include any context at all about why this was such a big moment for the community.
“No coverage includes any mention of the history of Sikh persecution from Indian authorities which the likes of respected lawyer Gareth Peirce have highlighted is central to the reason this came to trial. Nor has there been any context about who the RSS are when they are mentioned in regards to this case. The RSS are world recognised as an extremist outfit known for propagating violence against Indian minorities, and Priti Patel has openly shown them support and then seemingly used her role as Home Secretary to further their agenda. Yet, that very obvious worrying conflict of interest has not been touch upon by any of the British media.
“For some reason, the media at large do not seem to have the will to unpack stories like this which relate to Sikh struggles. There may be many reasons for that, but the there is only one outcome from it, and that is a British Sikh community that will only continue to distrust the intentions and integrity of our nation’s media.”
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!