The fiancee of imprisoned pirate hunter Billy Irving has told how she has seen him for the first time in eight months amid claims of cruelty within the jail where he is kept.
Billy Irving, 37, along with five other British anti-piracy security guards, was jailed for five years last January for possession of illegal weapons after being arrested while aboard a ship.
They were detained after the MV Seaman Guard Ohio strayed into Indian waters without permission in October 2012.
And now Mr Irving’s partner, Yvonne MacHugh, has told of her “complete high” after finally visiting him in Puzhal Prison in eastern India.
Writing on petition site Change.org, she said: “I shouldn’t be happy seeing the man I love in a prison thousands of miles from home, knowing he is completely innocent.
“But I am. I’m just so happy to finally speak to him again after eight long painful months of no telecommunication.”
She will visit him four times in eight months and will “treasure each one” of her visits.
Yvonne’s petition seeking the release of “the Chennai six” from their plight has, so far, racked up more than 370,000 signatures on Change.org.
But frustration over the legal processes in India has continued, with families still awaiting a verdict over an appeal after uncovering evidence that the security workers had all the proper documentation for their weapons.
Yvonne added: “I have no doubt that the last visit will be the hardest and I probably won’t walk out those prison gates with a smile on my face like I did today.
“I saw a few of the other men briefly and they all looked surprisingly well, which was a huge comfort.
“They gave me a shopping list of essentials they needed and letters to pass on to their families.
“Knowing how incredible they are, the strength they are showing, and the fight they still have in them to prove their innocence and return home as free men, has given me the strength to carry on their plight when I return home.
“I’ll forever be in owe of them.”
Yvonne appealed for supporters to keep sending letters and cards to the men and added: “You’ve no idea the happiness it brought them during the darkest of days.”
Yvonne wrote as a documentary maker, who is chronicling her ordeal, claimed the Foreign Office had received complaints from the men about how their basic human rights were being infringed in the prison.
Emile Ghessen, who has visited the prison, said she received letters from the men that talked of physical abuse from the guards, that they have to buy their own clean water to drink, and are restricted to one meal a day.
The filmmaker said they often have to go long periods without water to wash, were forced to sleep on the floor and face constant power cuts in immense heat.
She said: “From what I saw with my own eyes, and from what I’m being told, their living standards are far below basic.
“It is clear these men are being denied basic human rights. This should not be allowed to happen to British citizens who were simply passengers on a boat.”
The British men being held in India were all working for the US maritime security firm AdvanFort providing anti-piracy protection in the Indian Ocean when their ship was detained.
Once they boarded the vessel, Indian customs officials and police found 35 guns, including semiautomatic weapons, and almost 6,000 rounds of ammunition.
The prisoners were held for six months before the charges were inexplicably dropped.
But Mr Irving was prohibited from returning home until the conclusion of a police appeal, which eventually led to the men being jailed.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We recognise what a difficult time this is for those involved and we have taken significant action on this case.
“Foreign Office staff in India have been providing support to all six men since their arrest and are working to make sure their welfare is protected in prison.”
