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Prosecution witness throws Air-India
trial a curve
Prosecutors at the Air-India trial have been caught by surprise by the testimony of a central witness, called by the prosecution, to give evidence against defendant Ajaib Singh Bagri. In an unexpected twist in the historic international terrorism trial, prosecutor Richard Cairns asked the court to adjourn early yesterday to allow the team of prosecutors to consider whether they should ask the court to declare the middle-aged woman as hostile to the prosecution. The rarely used court procedure would allow the prosecution to cross-examine the witness aggressively. A court order prohibits the news media from identifying her. Prosecutors were surprised by her testimony about events in June, 1985, shortly before twin explosions on opposite sides of the world killed 331 people. An agent from Canada's spy agency has testified that the witness told him Mr. Bagri came to her house the night before the disaster to borrow her car. Mr. Bagri told her the baggage was going on a trip but he was not, and he would return her car, agent William Laurie of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service has said. Yesterday, the woman said she had heard gossip at work and at the Sikh temple about Mr. Bagri before she spoke to Mr. Laurie. She heard speculation that Mr. Bagri and alleged Air-India mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar took baggage with explosives to the airport, she said. But she did not know who was responsible for the Air-India disaster, she said. "If I knew who was involved, I would have told what I know," she said. The woman also said she could not remember the date or time when Mr. Bagri came to her home. Earlier this year, Mr. Justice Ian Bruce Josephson decided that she was feigning memory loss while in the witness box. But his comments did not improve her memory. In response to questioning, she said she did not remember on at least 75 occasions yesterday. The woman told the court she remembered Mr. Bagri came to her home in June, 1985, late at night and asked to borrow her car. She also remembered he only asked once in June, 1985, to borrow her car, she said. If left unchallenged, her testimony would undermine a significant part of the prosecution theory. The prosecution alleges that Mr. Bagri was at the woman's home at least twice in June, 1985. Relying on her statements to the CSIS agent, the prosecution says Mr. Bagri asked for her car on the evening of June 21, 1985, the day before the baggage was checked in at Vancouver airport. CSIS surveillance discovered Mr. Bagri at the woman's house on the evening of June 9, 1985. Michael Tammen, Mr. Bagri's lawyer, has suggested in court that Mr. Bagri was at the woman's home only once in June, when CSIS surveillance saw him there on June 9. Earlier this year, the prosecution tried unsuccessfully to have the witness declared hostile. The judge at that time ruled that she was lying in court but that she was not hostile to the prosecution. Mr. Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik are charged with murder for the deaths
of 331 people in the Air-India disaster. The prosecution alleges the two
Canadians were seeking revenge against the Indian government for attacks
against Sikhs in India. |
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