VANCOUVER, Dec. 04, 2004
Canadian Press
The Air India bombing trial concluded Friday, leaving only a judge
to decide the verdict of two men accused of plotting Canada's worst
mass murder and one of the world's worst acts of terrorism.
Justice Ian Josephson said he will deliver his verdict next March 16.
The judge heaped praise on the court staff for their long, hard efforts
throughout the marathon 18-month trial.
"The exhibits were endless, English language difficulties left
many witnesses difficult to comprehend and the security issues were
extreme,'' Josephson said.
"The sheriff more than met the challenge, the justice system has
served the public well.''
Over the next three and a half months, Josephson must sort through
testimony given on 233 court days and thousands and thousands of pages
of documents.
The fate of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri hangs on the
stories of a small handful of witnesses who took the stand against both
men, said defence lawyer David Crossin on the courthouse steps.
They include two former female confidantes of the accused, a convicted
murderer and an elderly stranger.
"The witnesses are not credible and the case for the Crown collapsed,''
Crossin said, succinctly summing up a case he called a defining moment
in his career.
"It's been the most difficult from the point of view of the ramifications
of it, the horrible circumstances of the families of the victims, the
logistical nightmare of hundreds of witnesses.
"It was unique. I don't think we'll ever see a case like this
again in this country or perhaps the world.''
His client and Bagri are charged with killing 331 people. There is
almost no hard evidence incriminating them.
Even regulars who have watched the trial from the start more than a
year and a half ago say it's hard to decipher who is telling the truth.<
About as simple a task as retrieving the victims of the 1985 jet bombing
from their frozen ocean grave.<
Perviz Madon, a Vancouver woman who lost her husband on the ill-fated
Flight 182, stood by her son after the case adjourned, confident the
Crown had presented a strong case.
"Now, all we can do is hope for the best and wait it out,'' something
she's exhausted with, remarking bitterly that her life has been on hold
for too long.
Madon has dutifully attended even the most tedious days of the trial.
"It's important for me to be here, for my husband, for myself
and for all the victims who perished in this horrendous crime,'' she
said.
Geoff Gaul, a spokesman for the Crown, couldn't offer Madon any reassurance
that the accused will be convicted.
"At the end of the day, the system really relies on the judge's
assessment of the evidence and whether the Crown has met the burden
of proof.
"We are confident in the sense that a case of substance, a case
the court can now analyse and conclude the accused are guilty is now
before (the judge.) Whether that happens is for the court to determine.''
Both the Crown and defence say the lover of accused mastermind Malik
is the "heart'' of the case.
She stepped out of her life of hiding in the witness protection program
to tell the court Malik confessed to the bombing -- confessed to organizing
a plot to smuggle two bombs on Vancouver flights that would connect
with and be transferred to Air India jets.
The plan, she said, was for the two explosives to detonate at the same
time while the planes soared on opposite sides of the world.
One blew up on schedule, shattering Air India Flight 182, which had
departed from Toronto, as it carried 329 people over the Atlantic Ocean.
According to Malik's confidante, the second was destined for a similarly
packed jet but fired prematurely, killing two baggage handlers in Tokyo's
Narita airport.
Years later, Malik allegedly called the pretty woman into his office
to unburden himself.
She was an elementary teacher at a religious school he ran for Sikh
children. She said they fell in love.
Malik called her every day and confessed that he wasn't attracted to
his wife. Instead, he would ask her to accompany him to social events.
Beyond that there was no evidence of a physical affair.
It would have been too dangerous for Malik, a businessman in the strict
Sikh community, to take it further.
But he lavished his thoughts on her, poured his heart out and guilty
soul, she said.
"He (said) `We had Air India crash. Nobody, I mean nobody, can
do anything. It is all for Sikhism,''' she said Malik told her in an
April 1986 heart-to-heart.
The confidante, who is among 10 protected witnesses and cannot be identified,
had gone to Malik in a fit of worry for a young girl who was contemplating
suicide.
She said Malik responded: "You feel sympathy for one (person)
but remember, if one (person) dies for Sikhism what is the big deal
about it? Three hundred twenty-eight people died. What did anyone do?''
In the spring of 1997, Malik went further, she said, and confessed
that he was the one who had purchased two airline tickets to fly the
bombs out of Vancouver to connect with Air India flights in Toronto
and Tokyo.
The woman said she didn't want to turn on Malik.
"Malik is part of me,'' she told the court, sobbing.
"If something affects him, it affects me. If he has any problems
it has to be my problem.''
But she said she was left with no choice. His partners despised her
and didn't trust her. She said they convinced Malik she was a spy who
would tell his secrets and that she needed to be cut loose.
He asked her to leave her job at the religious school he ran and men
in Malik's inner circle allegedly warned her she would have to be killed.