Campaign To Free Three Sikhs

[Guest militant singh]

Jus wna ask can da sikh federation or anova organisation start a petition online on tht prime ministers petition website fing,heard about tht site when motorists signed against a toll tax

[Nirvair S Khalsa]

It's a shame Sikhs in Panjab are more worried about the elections and the next Chief Minister when it is obvious no matter which of the two win, there is going to be minimum change in the state. It's a disgrace that the majority of Sikhs in Panjab do not highlight cases such as this of Bhai Paramjeet Singh or more likely, the villages of Panjab do not have the exposure of such episodes in the first place due to minimum and biased national media.

...*If you have not already done so, please do write to your MP urging them to sign EDM 870*...

Vaheguroo Jee Kaa Khalsa, Vaheguroo Jee Kee Phateh!!!

[Nirvair S Khalsa]

The hearing on 20^th February 2007 (yesterday) in respect of Bhai Paramjeet Singh Dhadhi and the two other Sikhs of Indian Nationality has been adjourned to 12^th March 2007.

ABOVE: Latest picture of the three Singh's leaving court.

...*If you have not already done so, please do write to your MP urging them to sign EDM 870*...

Vaheguroo Jee Kaa Khalsa, Vaheguroo Jee Kee Phateh!!!

[Nirvair S Khalsa]

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/wor...icle2350230.ece

Sikh faces jail in India for 'singing about human rights'

Monday, March 12, 2007

By Jerome Taylor

To the police in India, Paramjeet Singh is a "Sikh terrorist" recently arrested with two others for supposedly carrying explosives and handguns with the intention of disrupting the local elections that took place last month.

But to his family and numerous supporters, he is just a musician who happens to sing about human rights abuses in the Punjab and is now paying a high price for speaking out in a region of India where human rights groups are often refused access.

There are suspicions that Mr Singh, a British national and retired foundry worker from Wolverhampton, has been caught up in a miscarriage of justice. Because of the delays built in to the Indian judicial system, he could be imprisoned for up to three years before getting a chance to prove his innocence.

Today he faces a hearing in a Punjab court charged with a string of offences.

Staring at a television screen in their suburban home in Wolverhampton, Mr Singh's wife, Balvinder Kaur, watches a recording of her husband, shackled in chains, from the news report last December that announced her husband's arrest. "This is so hard to watch," she says, wiping away a tear with her pink headscarf. "I can't forget that day, I can't believe what he's going through."

On 23 December, police in the Punjab claimed they had uncovered a major terrorist plot aimed at disrupting the elections. They called a press conference and displayed a vast array of weapons, including RDX explosives, grenades and hand guns, which they alleged were found in the boot of a Sikh nationalist's car. Three suspected terrorists had been arrested.

One of the three arrested was Mr Singh, who was in India with his wife and baby granddaughter buying supplies for a holiday home he was building in his ancestral village. The weapons, police claimed, were found in his car. The next day Mr Singh and his co-accused, Amolek and Jaswinder Singh, appeared in court charged with terrorist-related crimes. Despite police protestations, they were permitted to speak briefly to the media. All three of them claimed they had been tortured overnight by policemen who wanted them to sign a written confession.

"He was in such a state," remembers Ms Kaur. "His legs were painful and he could barely walk. He said they kept standing on his back and legs to try and force him into signing a confession."

Within 24 hours Indian reporters had unearthed discrepancies in the evidence against the three men, and soon the police began changing their story.

Not only did the police repeatedly alter exactly where they had arrested the three men, but during a second press conference held by the authorities the next day, they said they had in fact not found the explosives in Mr Singh's car but in a haystack on land near his farm in the village of Gakhal.

Doubts were soon cast on those accusations when local reporters went to Mr Singh's village immediately after the press conference and could not find a single villager that had seen a policeman for more than a week. Protests soon erupted outside the prison nearby demanding the three men's release.

Further suspicions about the police evidence were then published after a woman claimed two days later that she had seen police digging a hole in the haystack near Mr Singh's farm, trying to make it look like they had found the weapons cache.

Mr Singh's daughter Ravi Gakhal, a lawyer based in Birmingham, believes her father's arrest was politically motivated.

She is concerned by the fact that the evidence against her father is similar to that in the case of another British Sikh activist who spent three years in an Indian jail before being cleared of all charges.

Balbir Singh Bains was arrested in 1999 by Delhi police who said they had found a consignment of RDX explosives. When Mr Bains finally had his day in court, the judge threw out the charges, calling them a "balloon of falsehoods" after it emerged the RDX in question had come from a police warehouse.

A spokesperson from the Foreign Office said that consular officials have visited Mr Singh in prison.

[lsingh]

The above story was also in The Independent

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2350050.ece

[Nirvair S Khalsa]

The release of Sikh Political prisoners in India such as Bhai Paramjeet Singh will be one of the issues to be discussed at the upcoming WORLD SIKH LOBBY at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on 25^th-26^th March 2007.

For more information about the World Sikh Lobby Day, please visit the following SikhSangat topic under the FUN | GLOBAL EVENTS | NEWS ARTICLES section:

http://www.sikhsangat.com/index.php?showto...mp;#entry239400

Vaheguroo Jee Kaa Khalsa, Vaheguroo Jee Kee Phateh!!!

[lsingh]

66 MP's have signed the Early Day Motion, there are many that live in Sikh areas which have not signed yet, please contact your MP.

No Sikh MP has signed including Piara Khabra and Parmjit Thanda.

EDM 870 ARREST AND DETENTION OF PARAMJIT SINGH IN THE PUNJAB07.02.2007

Purchase, Ken

That this House notes the many representations to the Foreign Secretary made by British Sikhs on behalf of Paramjit Singh, a British citizen; is dismayed by the continuing detention of Paramjit and the second postponement of his trial; condemns the Punjab police for delaying access by the British High Commission to Paramjit amid the concerns of his family for his safety; calls on the Government to increase its efforts to ensure an expeditious and fair trial; and, in the meantime, further calls on the Government to take steps to ensure Paramjit's health and welfare is not compromised by ill-treatment while he is in custody.

Signatures( 66)

Conservative Party

Amess, David

Bottomley, Peter

Conway, Derek

Dorries, Nadine

Evans, Nigel

Horam, John

Kirkbride, Julie

Streeter, Gary

Open: 8 Closed: 0

Labour Party

Austin, John

Berry, Roger

Blackman-Woods, Roberta

Caton, Martin

Chaytor, David

Cohen, Harry

Cryer, Ann

Dean, Janet

Drew, David

Flynn, Paul

George, Bruce

Gerrard, Neil

Gibson, Ian

Godsiff, Roger

Hall, Patrick

Hopkins, Kelvin

Iddon, Brian

Jenkins, Brian

Jones, Lynne

Keeble, Sally

Kilfoyle, Peter

Love, Andrew

Marris, Rob

Martlew, Eric

McCarthy, Kerry

McCarthy-Fry, Sarah

McKechin, Ann

Mole, Chris

Morden, Jessica

Mullin, Chris

Olner, Bill

Osborne, Sandra

Purchase, Ken

Sheridan, Jim

Simpson, Alan

Starkey, Phyllis

Stewart, Ian

Todd, Mark

Truswell, Paul

Turner, Desmond

Vaz, Keith

Vis, Rudi

Wareing, Robert N

Watson, Tom

Williams, Alan

Williams, Betty

Wright, Tony

Open: 47 Closed: 0

Liberal Democrats

Baker, Norman

Beith, AJ

Brake, Tom

Burstow, Paul

George, Andrew

Hancock, Mike

Hemming, John

Oaten, Mark

Pugh, John

Thurso, John

Younger-Ross, Richard

Open: 11 Closed: 0

[sikhlionz]

http://www.sikhsangat.org/ssn/publish/Engl..._National.shtml

Foreign Office Inaction Leads to Torture of British National

SSNews readers will remember the exclusive news regarding the wrongful arrest of 3 Sikhs on bogus charges of possession of explosives, etc. in India. Punjab Police Ropar arrested a British national Parmjeet Singh Dhadi on December 23, 2006 while he was on his way back from attending a function. Two other persons Mr. Amolak Singh and Mr. Jasvinder Singh were also arrested by the Jalandhar Police. As SSNews reported earlier, the 3 Sikhs were tortured for an prolonged period of time. The three persons were arrested under mysterious circumstances and the police story has many aforementioned gaps and variations that nail the lie to the police version.

On 25 April 2007, Paramjit Singh, Amolak Singh and Jaswinder Singh were scheduled to appear at Jalandhar Central Court. The three were arrested on 23 December 2006 and charged with a string of bogus offences. Since their arrest their trial has been ongoing and it was the last scheduled trial date for the prosecution. After this hearing, the defence would present their case to the court.

On 25 April 2007, the Punjab Police decided to intervene in the trial, which to date had been progressing well. They arrested Paramjit Singh and Amolak Singh from Nabhe jail and took them to Hoshiarpur Police Station. There, the Police sought police remand of 14 days. Police remand was only granted for 3 days. The two are accused of a mugging which led to the death of a man. From the dates the police have produced when this apparent offence took place, 23 November 2005, it has already been proven that Paramjit Singh was in the UK. But still the police are pursuing these charges. Once the charges have been placed, this will result in a long trial during which time the two accused will lose their freedom and will face judicial remand. There is no other reason for the bogus charges other than to derail the current trial, which was going well.

On 28 April 2007, Paramjit Singh and Amolak Singh presented in court in very ill-health. They both stated they had been tortured. The duo’s lawyer produced evidence to the judge, showing that Paramjit Singh was not in India when the alleged offence took place and therefore the charges should be dropped. The judge instead ordered another 2 days police remand. This so the police can continue to torture them. Paramjit Singh made disclosure to the Indian media outside of court that he was being tortured, the police were threatening him and they were trying to force him to sign a confession statement stating he had been paid by Bhai Jasbir Singh Rhode and Ravi Inder Singh to assassinate Prakash Singh Badal. Both are innocent and the two mentioned above had no reason to want to kill Badal. These allegations were made by Badal himself without any proof or evidence.

The family of Paramjit Singh now fear that he too will become another victim of the ‘fake encounter scenario’. Paramjit Singh stated at court today that he was told by the police they would shoot him in a fake encounter. This is a harsh reality of what the police in India are still capable of.

This is the third time Paramjit Singh has been arrested and charged with bogus offences. He is an innocent man. The charges against him will once again be proven to be wrong and untrue. However, how much more torture will he take? How many times will he be arrested and charged with bogus offences which will see his liberty at stake for months whilst he proves his innocence?

The cynic rationale behind this arrest is so obvious that one would assume that the authorities in the UK would be willing to make urgent representations. If Paramjit Singh was Caucasian white and of English descent, would he be in this position? Would he be facing bogus charges for the third time? Of course not.

The Foreign office, by doing nothing is showing the Punjab Police that they can continue to abuse innocent Sikhs.

The family of Paramjit Singh believe that the foreign office has discriminated against them and that had this been an English Caucasian man, intervention would have taken place by now. As time goes on, the Foreign Office have been less and less helpful in the case of Paramjit Singh. The family have again today written to the FCO stating their concerns regarding the inaction of the Foreign Office.

Sikh organizations throughout the globe have been rallying behind human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, which to date as been denied entry into Punjab to investigate the gross human rights violations committed over the past two decades by the Indian government. Evidently Sikh human rights activists and those who advocate reform like Paramjit Singh will continue to be denied fair trials and will be subject to the incompetent and partial kangaroo Indian judiciary. The judge has enough evidence before him today to at the very least order that the two be placed in judicial remand, where the police could not torture them. Despite the strong evidence before the court, he ordered police remand.

The foreign office now needs to ensure an urgent medical is carried out on Paramjit Singh so that evidence of the torture inflicted upon him is on record. To date they have failed to take direct action. The Foreign Office must take immediate action.

[Nirvair S Khalsa]

PARAMJIT SINGH - India

Paramjit Singh, here seen with two of his beloved grandchildren, is a 54 year old retired British citizen from Wolverhampton who was arrested in the Punjab region of India in December 2006. He has been charged with possession of explosives, grenades and handguns, with the intention of carrying out terrorist activities to disrupt the recent local elections, a charge which he strenuously denies. Paramjit is currently in the middle of a long and drawn out trial.

In the last week of April 2007, Paramjit has been further charged with a mugging offence, which led to the death of a man.

So, how did this situation arise?

Paramjit travelled to India in October 2006 with his wife and his young niece. He had been travelling backwards and forwards between India and the UK for some time, as he was building a retirement home in his ancestral village of Gakhal. This latest trip had been to purchase building supplies for his new home.

Paramjit is a Sikh, and a vocal critic of the anti-Sikh riots that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, and of the human rights abuses that continue in the Punjab to this day.

In October 2003, Paramjit was arrested, on arrival in India, on suspicion of travelling on a false passport. However, after the British government confirmed the authenticity of the passport, Paramjit was cleared of the charges and, since that time, had travelled to India several times without any problems. He therefore had no inkling that his trip in October 2006 would not be equally trouble free.

On 23rd December 2006, Paramjit and two others were arrested and charged with possession of explosives, grenades and handguns, which it was alleged had been found in Paramjit's car.

24 hours later, the police changed their story and alleged that the cache of weapons had actually been found under a haystack in the village of Gakhal. However, when journalists travelled to Gakhal to gauge the reaction of the villagers to the discovery of a stash of weaponry in their village, they were unable to find a single villager who was aware of the alleged seizure. In fact, the villagers all reported that they had not seen any policemen in Gakhal for over a week.

Paramjit is fortunate to have a very supportive family and, in particular, his daughter, Ravinder, a British lawyer, has been lobbying the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Paramjit's local MP and MEP, and the British media to keep his case in the spotlight.

Paramjit also has a very competent defence lawyer in India, Kharag Hundal, who has ensured that this case was fast tracked and came to trial within months, rather than years. Mr Hundal himself has been receiving threats from the police, simply for doing his job.

The trial had been proceeding well, albeit slowly, with a judge who appeared to be fair and asking the right questions.

However, on 25th April 2007, on the same day a hearing was scheduled in respect of the charges, where it was anticipated that the prosecution would conclude their case and the case for the defence could begin, Paramjit was taken from Nabhe jail, where he was in custody. Rather than being taken to the hearing, he was taken to the police station and charged with two further offences.

It is now alleged that 54 year old Paramjit was involved in a mugging, on 23rd November 2005, carried out by three "youths", of approximately 25 years old, which led to a man's death.

As a result of these further charges, the hearing into the original charges could not and did not take place, and therefore the trial has been derailed.

Fair Trials Abroad's concerns

• The case against Paramjit in relation to the cache of weapons is so flawed as to be unsustainable. There is no evidence that we are aware of linking him to any of the weaponry that was allegedly seized and we understand that, as the trial has progressed, the police have been made to look increasingly foolish.

• Following Paramjit's initial arrest, he was severely beaten and tortured by the police in order to try and force him to sign a confession. Paramjit's lawyer made representations to the judge regarding this torture and daily medicals were ordered in order to ensure the torture did not continue.However, since his further arrest on 25th April 2007, we understand that Paramjit has been severely beaten again and forced to sign several blank "confessions". The police have also threatened doctors at the hospital where Paramjit is examined daily, telling them that they would be killed if they mentioned any injuries in their reports to the courts.

• In relation to the mugging charge, Paramjit is a 54 year old man, who would have been 52 at the time of the alleged offence, therefore hardly a "youth of approximately 25". More importantly, Paramjit was in fact, in Britain at the time the mugging took place, a fact that could be easily verified by his passport, of which the Indian police holds a copy

It appears that the mugging charge was just an excuse to put further pressure on Paramjit and that the police action is clearly driven by a political agenda. He has been told by the interrogating officers that the will receive immunity and allowed to leave, if he confesses to being paid by members of the opposition party to assassinate the Chief Minister of Punjab.

At a court hearing on 1 May 2007 the judge fortunately ordered judicial remand and Paramjit was returned to Nabhe jail, where the police cannot torture him any further.

This is what you can do to help Paramjit Singh:

1. Write Paramjit and his family an email of support (see our contact page for our email addresses – we will forward any emails to Paramjit's family promptly);

2. Share your concerns with Paramjit's MP, Ken Purchase (492a Stafford Road, Oxley, Wolverhampton, WV10 6AN or by email, at kenpurchasemp@parliament.uk)

SOURCE:

http://www.fairtrialsabroad.org/?m=View&action=SpotlightLatest&PHPSESSID=91fbac392a64b377e8ede1dce38fbbc1

[SaRpAnCh]

Is it possible to start an official petition on th Downing Street Website?