Air India probe head says witnesses should testify as 'civic duty'

People should come forward and agree to testify out of civic duty, not simply because they have enough assurances from police or lawyers, the head of the Air India inquiry said Thursday.
Commissioner John Major said all citizens have an obligation to cooperate with police regardless of the fact they may be facing some threats.
The inquiry into the June 23, 1985 bombing has heard that many witnesses are reluctant to testify -- particularly in terrorism and organized-crime cases -- out of concern for their personal safety and that of their families.
When Jacques Shore, a lawyer for the Air India victims' families, suggested Thursday the RCMP should provide legal counsel to someone considering entering the witness protection program, Major interjected.
"All of us as part of the community have an obligation and it is easier to say you should come forward when you witness something without being comforted by legal advice and witness protection," Major said.
"For society to survive, we have to take on certain risks and responsibilities. Though we are trying to minimize it, we surely can't reach the stage where every person who might be involved is suddenly provided with legal counsel at the expense of the state to do something he should do anyhow."
Major said there is obvious public sympathy for an innocent bystander thrust into a criminal case.
But, he said, most who enter the federal Witness Protection Program are criminals cooperating with police, often to avoid lengthier sentences.
02/11/07 Kim Bolan/Vancouver Sun, Canada

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Categories: Air India - International Nov 2007, Foreign Nov 2007, Safety Nov 2007