Air India convict's perjury trial adjourned

Vancouver: The much-delayed perjury trial of the only man convicted in the Air India bombings has been adjourned for another five months.
After two prior adjournments, the three-week trial of Inderjit Singh Reyat was scheduled to begin May 4 but his lawyer, Ian Donaldson, told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mark McEwan Monday that he needs more time because of conflicts with other cases he is handling.
"I am stuck and I have no way of getting unstuck," he told the judge.
Donaldson said he's been Reyat's lawyer since he was charged with perjury and "I feel I owe it to Reyat to stay on" as his counsel.
Special prosecutor Len Doust did not oppose Donaldson's adjournment application and McEwan set the new trial date for Oct. 5.
The Duncan electrician is the only person ever found guilty in the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182 that killed 329 people, as well as the same-day blast at Tokyo's Narita airport that killed two baggage handlers. He allegedly lied 27 times while testifying for the Crown at the trial of two other accused, Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were acquitted.
Reyat, 56, was arrested in England in 1988 and extradited to Canada. He has been in jail since. In May 1991, he was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years for his part in the Narita bombing.
He was then charged in connection with the Air India bombing and pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2003, receiving a five-year jail term. Those sentences expired in February, but he was kept in jail on the perjury charges.
16/02/09 Calgary Herald, Canada

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Categories: Air India - International Feb 2009, Foreign Feb 2009, NACIL Feb 2009, Safety Feb 2009