New York, New York - Parmjit Singh Dhadi, Amolak Singh and Jaswinder Singh have been sent to judicial remand on May 1, 2007 after having spent five days under police remand. It is hoped that they would not be tortured while in judicial custody.
Voices For Freedom had written to the Special Rapporteur on Torture in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations at Geneva to urgently intervene and prevent the physical and psychological torture of Paramjit Singh, Amolak Singh and Jaswinder Singh by the Panjab Police. Paramjit Singh is a British national who was arrested on December 23, 2006 while he was on a visit to his ancestral village in Panjab, India. These three have been languishing in jails since then and charged with a string of offenses. Since their arrest their trial had been progressing well and it was the last scheduled trial date for the prosecution. After this hearing, the defence would have presented their case to the court.
On 25 April 2007, Paramjit Singh, Amolak Singh and Jaswinder Singh were scheduled to appear at Jalandhar Central Court. However the Punjab Police arrested Paramjit Singh and Amolak Singh from Nabha jail and took them to Hoshiarpur Police Station. There, the Police sought police remand of 14 days however they were granted remand for only 3 days by the court. On April 28, 2007, Paramjit Singh and Amolak Singh were presented in the court and they appeared in ill-health according to the members of his family who were present in the court. Both Paramjit Singh and Amolak Singh stated that they had been tortured brutally. 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 these charges should be dropped. The judge instead ordered 2 days police remand. This, the family and the lawyer believed was so that the police could continue to torture them.
This is the third time Paramjit Singh has been arrested and charged with offences which later have been proven to be untrue. His family fears he will not be able to endure this torture for long.
His daughter Ravi Gakhal while speaking with Voices For Freedom said that "once the charges are placed, it 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 gong well."The family of Paramjit Singh now fear that he too will become another victim of the 'fake encounter scenario'. Paramjit Singh stated at court when he was presented on April 28 that he was told by the police that they would shoot him in a fake encounter. This is a harsh reality of what the police in India are capable of. The lawyer who represents Paramjit Singh and Amolak Singh is also being intimidated by the Police.
Many organizations like Voices For Freedom have been rallying behind human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, which to date has 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
