Air India case abruptly halted

The perjury trial of Inderjit Singh Reyat was suddenly halted yesterday after the court was told that a juror had made a remark that another member considered to suggest racial bias.
Mr. Justice Mark McEwan of the B.C. Supreme Court, dismissed the entire jury of 10 members and two alternates. He told them that concern was raised about a remark that may have been made during the jury selection process.
After consulting with the prosecution and defence lawyers, he did not see an effective way for the court to find out whether the remark was made, whether others in the jury who heard the remarks were "tainted" and whether the complaint to the court would affect the work of the jury, he said.
As the judge in a perjury trial, he had no easy way to find out who heard what and who said what to whom, he said. A process to clarify the situation would be time consuming, distracting and probably ineffective, Judge McEwan said.
The process of selecting a new jury is expected to start again next week and the trial will likely begin in two weeks.
The delay is the latest setback in a high-profile trial stemming from the Air India case, the deadliest unsolved crime in Canadian history.
Two bombs were placed on planes at Vancouver International Airport on June 22, 1985 by a group of Sikh militants fighting for an independent homeland carved out of India. Hours later, an Air India flight en route to London, England from Canada exploded over the Atlantic Ocean, killing 329 people, most of whom were Canadians. Less than an hour later, a second bomb in baggage headed for an Air India flight exploded in the Tokyo airport, killing two baggage handlers.
09/03/10 Robert Matas/Globe and Mail, Canada

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Air India - International Mar 2010, Foreign Mar 2010, NACIL Mar 2010, Safety Mar 2010