Scottish Sikh activist Jagtar Singh Johal has been released from prison in India after spending nearly nine years in detention without being convicted, following a Delhi High Court order granting him bail.
According to a report by BBC, Johal, 39, from Dumbarton in Scotland, was arrested in 2017 in connection with alleged terror offences. Indian authorities have accused him of involvement in a series of targeted killings of religious and political figures, allegations he denies.
The Delhi High Court granted Johal bail on September 18, but he was released only on Thursday. As part of his bail conditions, he has surrendered his passport and has been barred from speaking to the media about the case.
Johal was acquitted last year in a case in which he was accused of financially supporting the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), a banned organisation. He remained in custody because he faces federal charges in eight other cases, in which he could potentially face the death penalty.
His legal team has argued that the cases substantially overlap and that the remaining charges should be dismissed.
After hundreds of hearings over nearly nine years, the High Court's bail order observed that the trial was "certainly not likely to conclude anytime soon".
Johal's brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, who has campaigned for his release, described the bail decision as a "really important milestone".
"It is just a first step, but it is a step in the right direction," he said.
UK-based legal charities Reprieve and Redress, which represent Johal in Britain, also welcomed his release. Reprieve deputy executive director Dan Dolan said Johal still faced the death penalty and called the charges against him "trumped up".
Redress said Johal's release could not undo what it described as the "intolerable suffering caused by nine years of arbitrary detention".
Johal's family has maintained that no concrete evidence has been presented against him and that the cases rely on testimony from unreliable witnesses. A UN panel found his detention to be arbitrary in 2022.
Johal has also alleged that he was tortured in custody. Indian authorities have previously denied the allegation and maintained that due process is being followed in the cases against him.
His release does not bring the proceedings against him to an end, and he remains subject to the conditions imposed by the court.
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