CJFE Welcomes Air India Report; Calls for Killers of Journalist to be brought to Justice at Last

Toronto: Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) welcomes the long-awaited and comprehensive report by John Major on the Air India tragedy. We particularly commend the light Major has shone on the connection between the Air India case and the attempted and subsequent murder of journalist Tara Singh Hayer.
More than 60 pages of the report are devoted to a thorough analysis of Tara Singh Hayer's role as a key witness in the Air India case, the threats and attacks on Hayer that resulted because of his information about the case, and heartbreakingly, the RCMP's inability to provide Hayer and his family with the protection that he needed and asked for.
CJFE calls upon the RCMP to heed the findings of the report and renew their investigation into the killers of Tara Singh Hayer. "With no progress on the murder investigation for almost twelve years, Canada joins a very disreputable group of countries that do not bring the killers of journalists to justice," said Arnold Amber, CJFE President. "The names of the alleged killers have been printed many times, so the question remains why have they not been brought to court?"
Tara Singh Hayer was a leading member of the Sikh community in British Columbia, and was the editor of the Indo-Canadian Times. Hayer survived an attempted assassination attempt (which left him partially paralyzed) in 1988 and was murdered ten years later. In between, there were multiple threats again Hayer. Both the attempt and the murder appear to be connected to Hayer's role as a key witness in the Air India trial.
The report provides a disturbing window into how the RCMP conducted the Air India investigation and the investigations into the attacks on Hayer.
18/06/10 CNW

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