VANCOUVER, Mon, 31 May 2004
CBC, Canada

Defence lawyers in the Air India bombing trial begin their case on Monday, using a dead man's diary as a key piece of its evidence.

After months of Crown evidence linking him to the Air India bombings, lawyers for Ripudaman Singh Malik have revealed little about their strategy or their list of witnesses.

"There's an obligation on the Crown to disclose its case to the defence," said Crown spokesperson Geoff Gaul. "There isn't a reciprocal obligation on the part of the defence."

Malik's lawyers have said they'll try to admit into evidence portions of a diary that once belonged to Hardial Singh Johal. Johal, who was suspected as a co-conspirator in the bombings, died two years ago.

Johal was seen at Vancouver airport the day the bombs were checked aboard two different flights.

Malik is accused, along with Ajaib Singh Bagri, of putting a bomb on Air India Flight 182 in June 1985. The Boeing 747 exploded over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 329 people on board.

The conspiracy and murder charges against them include another bombing on the same day at Tokyo's Narita airport, where two baggage handlers were killed.

In its case, the prosecution called witnesses who said Malik discussed the bombing plot and asked associates to check bags onto airplanes.

The Crown contends Malik and Bagri conspired to blow up two Air India planes in retaliation for the Indian government's attack on a sacred Sikh temple in 1984.

The defence portion of the trial is expected to last late into the summer.