Kanishka trial: Accused acquitted for lack of evidence

Kanishka trial: Accused acquitted for lack of evidence

Thursday, March 17, 2005 (Vancouver):

A Canadian judge on Wednesday acquitted two Indian-born Sikhs in the Kanishka bombing trial.

The judgment came after a 20-year investigation, and a 19-month trial into the world's worst airborne terror strike prior to the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The two Canadian Sikhs were acquitted of carrying out the 1985 bombing of an Air India plane, which killed 331 people.

'Fallen short'

British Columbia Supreme Court Justice, Ian Josephson said that the evidence against the accused, Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri was not sufficient for convictions.

He said that key prosecution witnesses surfaced 'too late to be credible'.

"The Crown has not proven its case against him beyond a reasonable doubt," said Josephson, as he acquitted Malik, a prominent member of western Canada's Sikh community.

As he delivered his judgement against Bagri, Josephson said : "the evidence has fallen remarkably short ... I find the Crown has not proved his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."

List of offences

Malik and Bagri, orthodox Sikhs who immigrated to Canada from Punjab, were accused of conspiring to plant suitcase bombs on two aircraft.

Prosecutors claimed the Sikh group built suitcase bombs on Vancouver Island, bought airplane tickets, then planted the explosives on two flights from Vancouver that connected with Air India planes.

The two were arrested in 2000 and charged with a list of offences including murder.

Deadly attacks

On June 23, 1985, Air India Flight 182 from Montreal to London, carrying luggage and passengers originating in Vancouver, exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland.

All 329 people on board, mostly Canadians, were killed.

An hour earlier, a bomb in baggage intended for another Air India flight exploded in the Tokyo airport, killing two baggage handlers.

Acts of revenge

Canadian prosecutors claimed that the two explosions were the result of one conspiracy, an act of revenge by Sikh separatists for the 1984 raid by Indian forces on the Golden Temple at Amritsar, the holiest site in their religion.

But both Malik and Bagri denied their involvement in the acts of terror.

While Malik was accused of financing the bomb plot, Bagri was charged with transporting the bomb to Vancouver.

Talwinder Singh Parmar believed to be the mastermind was killed by the police in India, in 1992.

Another accused Inderjit Singh Reyat admitted assisting with the making of the bomb, but denied knowing its intended target. He was jailed for 5 years in 2003.

Circumstantial evidence

With the exception of several confessions testified to by star witnesses, much of the case against the two men was circumstantial.

The star witness against Bagri, a former member of a New York Sikh militant group who was paid $382,000 for his testimony, said Bagri confessed to him at a New Jersey gas station.

Taking the witness stand on March 21, 2004, the man testified Bagri said, "We did this" as they discussed the bombing.

Similarly, a woman who said she and Malik were in love testified that the millionaire businessman confessed to her several times.

"Lawyers for the crown prosecution in Canada are stunned and shocked that the most expensive trial in Canadian history has ended in a not guilty verdict," said Sarwan Singh Rawan, Victim's Lawyer.

Relatives sickened

The spectators in the courtroom, including dozens of victims' relatives, gasped when the verdicts were read.

Some started wailing. The defendants - Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri - were immediately removed from the courtroom.

Outside the court building, relatives and lawyers for the victims said they were stunned by the verdict.

"I am shocked for the victims and families looking for some closure. But this is no closure. I think it also sends a message to other terrorists in Canada that you can come up, you can blow up airplanes, kill innocent human beings and nothing is going to happen to you.

"After 20 years nobody has been held accountable for it and nobody has had to pay the price for this," said David Hayer, Kanishka bombing victim's son. (With wire inputs)

from ndtv.com