British businessman held in India after 'prisoner swap' with Princess Latifa must be released, says UN

The UN has demanded the release of a British businessman held without conviction for two years in an Indian jail after a “prisoner swap” deal involving Dubai Princess Sheikha Latifa.

Businessman Christian Michel was extradited to India from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in exchange for India handing over Princess Latifa whom it captured after Indian coastguards boarded the runaway royal’s yacht.

Mr Michel, an aviation consultant, has been held ever since in one of India’s most notorious jails where he claims he has been tortured after refusing to sign a fake confession that he bribed Indian officials to secure a helicopter deal.

Princess Latifa has been allegedly imprisoned by her father, the billionaire ruler of UAE, after being handed over by the Indians.

Now The Telegraph can reveal that a UN working group has intervened to rule that Mr Michel has been arbitrarily held in breach of his human rights, should be released immediately and compensated for his time in prison.

The UN group said: “The violations of the right to a fair trial and due process are of such gravity as to give Mr Michel’s deprivation of liberty an arbitrary character.”

It also ruled the UAE unlawfully arrested and handed over Mr Michel to the Indian Government and demanded both Governments should pay him compensation.

The UN working group said it was also referring the case to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture for further action to be taken after Mr Michel alleged he had been tortured after refusing to sign the fake confession.

Mr Michel, 59, has been held in the notorious Tihar jail in Delhi alongside murderers, rapists and terrorists since being extradited to India in December 2018 from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he was working.

Mr Michel has been represented by Toby Cadman, of Guernica 37 chambers who also represented Princess Latifa, and Zimeray & Finelle Avocats, Paris.

Mr Cadman said the swap deal from the UAE, the imprisonment and treatment of Mr Michel was “arbitrary,” “inhumane” and flouted international law.

He said Mr Michel had been caught up in a “politically-motivated” case in which the ruling BJP party was trying to tar the previous Congress Party administration with corruption over the helicopter deal.

Mr Cadman has filed a petition of complaint to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture which are expected to rule in favour of Mr Michel within weeks.

Mr Michel has also written to Boris Johnson from his prison cell, urging him to intervene both in his case and that of a British cellmate, Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton, who has been held without conviction in India for three years on “false” terror charges and who also alleges torture.

In his letter seen by The Telegraph, Mr Michel said all he wanted was “unconditional bail.” He said he was prepared to stand trial but would not “bear false witness” to support the BJP party’s allegations of corruption.

“If I was going to run I would have run from Dubai,” he wrote. “My trial will take 20 years...I like India and Indian people, and after 20 years the trial will collapse as is normal in such cases, and most of the witnesses and accused will have died of old age.

“Prime Minister I request that you move on my requests, if not I am stuck and will have no choice but to go on hunger strike.”

The bribery allegations have been heard twice by an Italian court and rejected as “conclusively having no evidence of corruption.” Mr Michel’s extradition was initially refused by the UAE due to a “lack of evidence and unsubstantiated allegations.”

But an identical extradition application was submitted after India had handed over Princess Latifa to the UAE and it was accepted. Mr Michel was extradited to India where he claims he was questioned for 14 hours a day for two weeks without sleep.

The Indian Government has denied that “no due process was followed in the extradition” of Mr Michel or that he has been subject to torture.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “Our staff continue to support Christian Michel, who has been detained in Delhi since 2018, and regularly raise his case with the Indian authorities. The Foreign Secretary raised it with India’s Minister of External Affairs, Dr Jaishankar, during his visit to India in December 2020.

“Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, has met with his family based in the UK, and we continue to provide them with updates on his case. He has also raised this case with his Indian ministerial counterpart as well as with the Indian High Commissioner to the UK. We have noted and are considering the opinion by the UN Working Group.”