In an exclusive interview with The Anadolu Agency in the prison’s visiting room with guards in close attendance, Bhai Jagtar Singh Tara claimed that Indian officials misled him following his detention and tricked him into signing a document saying he wanted to fight his case in India.
Though It was not established during the ten-minute interview on Wednesday exactly who the officials were, India requested Tara’s extradition on the day of his arrest and an order to return him to India was issued by a Thai court the following day.
Bhai Jagtar Singh also told Agency that, “[highlight]They made fun of me and told me ‘You should speak here otherwise you will speak there [India].[/highlight]’”
“First, I asked to have an attorney, but [the Indian officials] said that I did not have the right to a legal representation in Thailand,” Singh said. “They dictated me what to write.”
“But I don’t want to go to India because I will get a death sentence.”
In his exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency, Tara also admitted that “I recognize my involvement in the bombing.”
Despite his Pakistani nationality, no officials from the country’s embassy have contacted him since his arrest and Thai prison officials consider him to be Indian.
“Tara’s extradition to India would be in violation of the UN convention because if extradited he will possibly face a death sentence in India,” the group said in a press release on Tuesday.
The statement added: “We will submit documentary evidence to [the] Thai court proving ongoing torture on Sikh detainees in India.”
Source: The Anadolu Agency