Nikhil Gupta, the Indian national indicted by the US Department of Justice for allegedly being involved in a murder-for-hire plot against American citizen and Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, spoke to The Indian Express on the US indictment against him, why he requested a government-appointed counsel, and the condition in prison. Excerpts: Q. Your lawyer in Prague's highest court had argued that the court should determine if you were indeed an agent working for the Indian secret service and if you could have refused the order to kill Pannun. The Czech court rebutted this argument and said that it was “absurd” to consider that a democracy like India would resort to such methods. Why did your lawyer present this argument? A. If you review the submissions my lawyers and I have made to the Czech court, you will see that we have not made any such argument. I was equally shocked to find that the Constitutional Court included this statement in their judgment, which clearly suggests collusion between the Constitutional Court and other authorities Q. You have said in court that this is a case of mistaken identity. However, the US indictment reportedly contains messages from your phone number and video evidence showing you interacting with CC-1 (allegedly a key figure in the plot to kill Pannun). How do you reconcile this evidence with your claim of mistaken identity? Everything has been fabricated and planted. I do not know any such person or agent. This is a large-scale political manoeuvre. Q. Did any officials from the Indian Embassy visit you while you were in jail in Prague? If so, could you provide details on who visited, how many times, and any requests you made of them? In Prague, Czech Republic, I did get consular access thrice. However, I don’t know the name of the person who visited me. Q. Since being moved to the US, has anyone from the Indian Embassy visited you? If so, could you tell us who visited, how often, and any requests you made of them? Since I have been extradited to the US from Prague, I haven’t received any consular access. Nobody has visited me from the Indian embassy. My family raised several requests for the same, however, nobody has visited me till date… Q. You have requested a government-appointed counsel in the US. Could you explain the reason for this? We have requested a government-appointed counsel because we simply cannot afford to hire a private attorney. This has already been an incredibly long and exhausting legal battle for me and my family, and it has taken a heavy financial toll. All the funds we had were spent on fighting the case in the Czech Republic. The court appointed me a lawyer on October 30th, but after conducting my own research, I discovered that the lawyers assigned to me lack the necessary expertise and experience in criminal defence and cases of this nature. With all due respect, one of them became a federal defender just 10 days prior to being appointed to my case, on October 20. I genuinely want the best lawyer for my defence, but my family and I simply cannot afford it. Q. The recent US indictment names Vikash Yadav as the person you were allegedly in touch with. During your interactions with US authorities, has the name Vikash Yadav been mentioned? Do you know anyone of that name? Vikas is a very common name and Yadav is a big community in India. I don’t know anybody with that name or related to this matter. The only time I’ve read this name is in the superseding indictment. Q. How are your conditions in the US prison? Life as a prisoner is never easy, but the life of an innocent man who has been falsely accused and imprisoned far from home, away from his family, is nothing short of horrific. I want to appear strong because I know my mother, wife, and children will be reading or hearing this.
