Air India verdict sparks outrage

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This article was published 17/03/2005 (7750 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — In a stunning decision heard around the world, two B.C. Sikh separatists were found not guilty yesterday of conspiring to blow up two Air India planes on June 23, 1985, in a terrorist plot that left 331 dead and ripped apart the Indo-Canadian community for 20 years.

Gasps of shock greeted B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ian Bruce Josephson’s verdict that Ripudaman Singh Malik, 58, and Ajaib Singh Bagri, 55, were not guilty of charges associated with the worst mass murder in Canadian history.

In a summary of his findings, Josephson pointed to inconsistencies in the evidence of three key Crown witnesses.

The witnesses included a woman who is now in the witness protection program who said Malik confessed to her on more than one occasion.

The judge said he could not believe the woman claimed to still love Malik after he had allegedly taken responsibly for such an act of mass murder.

Geoff Gaul, spokesman for the prosecution, said the judgment will be reviewed before a decision is reached about an appeal.

Families of the victims reacted with shock and outrage at a news conference in Vancouver.

“We have lost our families all over again,” said Sanjay Lazar, who was orphaned when his entire family perished in the bombing. “This time, it’s to the Canadian justice system.

“We had sought only justice, not retribution,” he said.

Marian Lougheed, who lost her brother Don, said she felt devastated.

“I feel this is a victory today — a victory for terrorism in Canada,” she said.

London, Ont., resident Rattan Singh Kalsi held up a picture of his 21-year-old daughter Indira, who was killed in the bombing.

“This is a small court,” he said of the B.C. Supreme Court. “There is a much higher court — God’s court.”

Banu Saklikar lost her sister and brother-in-law, both doctors in Gujarat, who were on a holiday in Canada.

“My grief will be with me to the day that I die,” Saklikar said. “I still can’t look at her beautiful pictures.”

John Chatlani, whose mother, baby brother and 13-year-old sister died on Air India Flight 182, said the blame for what he called a “botched” investigation lies not only with the Crown.

“It was a collective effort by the Canadian government and the agencies involved,” said Chatlani.

Maresh Sharma from Montreal joined a chorus of families who are calling for a public inquiry.

“You think one man, one person, makes a decision. That’s not right,” said Sharma, who lost his wife and two children. “Somebody has to feel responsible for victims who lost 331 people.

But Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan expressed doubt there would be any point in holding a public inquiry.

“I would have to be convinced there is anything further after 20 years and this trial on the public record that we could learn from.”

A review of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service was done during the investigation, and since then its operations and those of the RCMP are better co-ordinated with the creation of her ministry after the 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S., she said.

Prime Minister Paul Martin had this response to the verdicts: “On behalf of all Canadians our hearts and our prayers have been with the families and they continue to be with the families.”

Regardless of the Crown’s decision about an appeal, RCMP Sgt. John Ward pledged the police investigation into the bombings will continue.

“We stand behind our investigation,” he said. “We’re confident with the work we’ve done. However, I remind you that our investigation is not concluded.”

Josephson said that despite the enormity of the loss of life — the deaths of 329 people in the downing of Flight 182 off the coast of Ireland, and the killing of two baggage handlers during a second explosion at Tokyo’s Narita airport — the standard of proof in a criminal case must not be lowered.

He said two other Crown witnesses who both described being asked by Malik to carry suitcases to the airport were unreliable because of inconsistencies in their testimony.

The judge said another lead witness against Bagri, an FBI informant known as John, could not be relied upon because of inconsistencies in his statement and because he appeared to be willing to do anything to advance his own self-interest.

John was paid $460,000 Cdn by the RCMP after agreeing to testify.

The judge did accept the Crown’s position that the explosives used in the conspiracy were planted in Vancouver, and said he believed the ringleader to be Talwinder Singh Parmar, who was killed in India in 1992.

Relatives of Malik and Bagri cheered and smiled, embracing each other outside the courtroom in front of a horde of media onlookers.

Malik said nothing as he left the courthouse and got into a new Mercedes vehicle with family members.

Bagri, imprisoned more than four years, had his daughter, Inderdip Kaur, read a statement.

“In 1985, when these terrible events occurred, I was a passionate advocate for an independent homeland for the Sikh people. I want to repeat publicly today I have told the authorities many times since 1985 that I had absolutely no involvement in any of these criminal activities. The loss of so many innocent lives resulting from these events is an enormous tragedy. It has brought unspeakable suffering to the families and friends of those who have died. It has also caused deep divisions within the Sikh community. It is my hope that the completion of these legal proceedings will now allow healing to begin. I will encourage our community to come together.”

A woman who became known as the trial’s “star witness” testified that Malik confessed to her his involvement in the bombing plot because they shared a deep platonic love.

The woman was a day-care supervisor at Surrey’s Khalsa School when she and her boss hit it off and became best friends.

But the court heard that the friendship began to sour in 1996 when she confronted Malik about his treatment of a student who had attempted suicide because teachers accused her of cutting her hair, which is against Sikh doctrine.

“If one child dies for Sikhism, so what,” she quoted Malik as saying. “Others will learn not to break the rules.”

He then took credit for the more than 300 deaths in the Air India bombing, she said, quoting him as saying: ” ‘We had Air India crash. Nobody, nobody can do anything. It is all for Sikhism.’ ”

Another school volunteer, Narinder Singh Gill, testified that Malik warned him not to co-operate with the police in the Air India investigation.

Gill said he saw Malik and other alleged conspirators at a meeting in Seattle around the time of the bombings.

Jagdev Singh Dhillon, a former business associate of Malik, told the court that months before the bombing, he was at a religious gathering at Malik’s house. He said Malik entered the room and said others in the house were talking about “crashing planes”.

Two other men, whose names are protected by publication bans, said they were each approached by Malik in the months before the bombings and asked to carry suitcases to the airport.

The most controversial Crown witness was John, the FBI informant.

John said Bagri confessed to him a few weeks after the bombing outside a New Jersey gas station that was owned by a mutual friend.

“We did this,” John quoted Bagri as saying.

While John told his FBI handler about the confession almost right away, he said he did not want to be identified to the RCMP.

Years later, he agreed to a meeting with the Mounties, who convinced him to be a witness.

But John admitted to lying under oath, being charged in an assault and associating with other Sikh militants who advocated violence.

Throughout the trial, evidence was also presented about the involvement of several other conspirators in the case who have never been charged.

But the RCMP has pledged to continue the investigation.

The Air India investigation and prosecution is the longest and most expensive in Canadian history.

While government officials have so far refused to reveal the total costs, it is estimated that more than $100 million has been spent.

— CanWest News Service

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