UK – LBC, Feb. 09, 2026
Christian Michel, 64, is accused of bribing Indian officials to win a multimillion-dollar helicopter contract for British-Italian defence company AgustaWestland, which was signed in 2010
The son of a British man detained in India for seven years without trial has “lost trust” that the UK Government will bring his father home.
Christian Michel, 64, is accused of bribing Indian officials to win a multimillion-dollar helicopter contract for British-Italian defence company AgustaWestland, which was signed in 2010.
He denies the charge.
He was extradited from the United Arab Emirates to India in 2018 and has been in custody in New Delhi’s Tihar jail ever since.
Christian has served the maximum sentence for the alleged offence for which he was extradited – seven years – but has still not been released.
Christian’s son Alois Michel, 28, said he has not seen “any kind of protection” being given to his father by the British authorities, and said: “Diplomatically speaking, they’re not doing anything to get my father out.”
He said: “To be very honest with you, the UK institutions, we’ve just completely lost trust with them.
“We really don’t see any kind of protection being given or defence being provided to my father.
“I mean, the same speech has been made for the past seven years that they have raised the matter to the Indian authorities.
“But I don’t know if it’s based on just candid inexperience from them or just a way to get rid of us to some extent, but we know that hasn’t contributed to anything, actually, of any form of weight.”
He added: “The UK is just compliantly letting India treat one of their citizens in such horrible ways, while simultaneously, England is following international rights by protecting some Indians currently in the UK that are being requested to be extradited to India.”
