VANCOUVER – Inderjit Singh Reyat, the only man convicted in the Air India bombing, lied on several occasions when he testified seven years ago at the trial of two other suspects in the terrorist attack, prosecutor Len Doust told B.C. Supreme Court Thursday.
Reyat’s high-profile perjury trial finally got underway at the Vancouver Law Courts after years of delays – the final chapter in the story of Canada’s deadliest mass murder.
Jurors listened attentively as Doust explained in his opening remarks that he would not be calling witnesses, but would rely on recordings of Reyat’s evidence in September 2003 and an affidavit Reyat signed six months before being called as a Crown witness at the Air India trial.
Doust said he could demonstrate that Reyat had deliberately misled the Air India trial 19 times over three days of testimony that began on Sept. 10, 2003.
The two other suspects, Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, were later acquitted of conspiring to blow up two Air India flights heading in opposite directions around the globe.
On June 23, 1985, a bomb planted in a suitcase aboard Air India Flight 182 exploded over Irish airspace, killing all 329 people on board – including 280 Canadians.
The plane had taken off from Toronto Pearson International Airport, and exploded en route to London’s Heathrow Airport. A second bomb checked in at Japan’s Narita airport exploded killing two baggage handlers shortly after the plane was blown up.
"From the material, you can and should conclude that (Reyat) lied on a number of occasions," Doust told the nine women and three men on the jury.
Reyat, dressed in a grey suit, looked relaxed as he took his seat in the prisoner’s box. He followed along on written documents provided to him and the jurors by the Crown.
While Reyat was originally charged with perjury in February 2006, a new indictment was sworn on Aug. 31, 2010, listing 19 specific allegations of "making a false statement under solemn affirmation."
The Crown alleges Reyat lied about nine separate points related to his conversations with Talwinder Singh Parmar, the suspected mastermind of the Air India plot who was killed in 1992.
The indictment alleges that Reyat was lying when he testified that he did not know that Air India mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar was a leader of the Babbar Khalsa terrorist group and when he claimed in court that Parmar had asked him to build just one bomb without providing any information about its proposed use.
The indictment also said Reyat lied several times about his knowledge of an Air India conspirator dubbed Mr. X who stayed with Reyat and his family for a week prior to the bombing.
Reyat’s affidavit, signed on Feb. 8, 2003, makes reference to Parmar asking Reyat for "various materials for the purpose of aiding others in the making of explosive devices."
The document, read into court Thursday, also said Parmar told Reyat that the "explosive devices would be transported to India in order to blow up property such as a car, a bridge or something heavy."
"I complied with Parmar’s request because I was upset with the Indian government’s treatment of the Sikh people and I wanted to assist their cause in any way that I could," the affidavit said.
Justice Mark McEwan cautioned the jurors not to search online for information about Reyat or the Air India case, but to listen to the evidence presented at trial.
Doust began his case by playing a tape of Reyat’s Air India testimony, including Doust’s own questioning of Reyat under oath almost seven years ago to the day.
The trial is expected to continue through next week.
The 20-year Air India investigation led to the most expensive trial in the country’s history, costing almost $130 million.
Former justice John Major was tasked with heading up the inquiry into the heavily criticized Air India investigation. He released his report in June.
Major slammed the RCMP, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and other government agencies for ignoring repeated warnings and failing to stop the blasts.
"The level of error, incompetence, and inattention which took place before the flight was sadly mirrored in many ways for many years, in how authorities, governments, and institutions dealt with the aftermath of the murder of so many innocents: in the investigation, the legal proceedings, and in providing information, support and comfort to the families," said Major.
Major said both CSIS and the RCMP mishandled potential witnesses that could have helped the failed Air India prosecution.
Witnesses in the case did not feel safe, said Major. Highlighting those safety concerns was the assassination of Indo-Canadian Times editor Tara Singh Hayer before he could testify.
"In the end, of the three individuals who were to be the key witnesses in the Air India trial, one was murdered before the trial began, one feigned memory loss because she was too frightened to testify, and one was forced to enter the Witness Protection Program two years earlier than planned," said Major.
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