NEW YORK: NY: Sukhmandir Singh and Ranjit Singh Gill, the two Sikhs held here, were placed in administrative detention solitary confinement) in the metropolitan Correctional Center here on January 17 by the authorities who were forced to release them within days.
The authorities had put them in detention without any explanation despite the fact that such an explanation is required by the prison regulations.
As soon as the matter was brought to the attention of the Sikh leaders that informed attorney Mary Pike she wrote to the prison Warden demanding an explanation.
Subsequently in communications with an assistant United States attorney she was told that the reason for the action was that the prison authorities were under the impression that there had been a change in the status of Sukhmandir Singh and Ranjit Singh Gill. The prison authorities had not however made any efforts to confirm their information.
The information was of course totally wrong, as Ms Pike informed the warden and subsequently on January 19 they were released from administrative detention aid sent to regular rooms.
Sukhmandir Singh and Ranjit Singh Gill were originally arrested by the F.B.I. at a gas station in New Jersey on an international warrant issued by the Indian Government which alleged that they were wanted in connection with some criminal activities there.
Both have been functionaries of the All India Sikh Students Federation and had escaped from India after being falsely implicated in a case of attempted murder of a superintendent of police called A.P. Pandey. A commission of inquiry appointed by the Punjab Government and headed by Justice Ajit Singh Bains had exonerated both of them but the police still did not drop the cases against them. They were also accused of killing former Indian army General Vaidya who had led the army’s bloody assault on the Golden Temple in 1984.
Talking to the World Sikh News Mary Pike said she was concerned that the prison authorities had just kept the two young. Men in administrative detention on the basis of entirely wrong information which they made no efforts to verify in spite of the fact they could easily have done so.
She added that the case was now before Hon. Robert W. Sweet of the District Court of South New York. It is to be heard on February 1, In the March of 1988 a petition of Habeas Corpus was filed on behalf of the respondents challenging the correctness of the decision of Magistrate that they could be extradited. There are also supplemental briefs on various matters including the misconduct of the Government prosecutor, Judy Russell, Pike added.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 27, 1989
