Canada court sets bail for Air India terrorist bomber
A convicted Air India bomber was released after 20 years in jail on 500,000 dollar (Canadian) bail and on condition that he remain mostly confined to his home.
By Agencies |
VANCOUVER: A convicted Air India bomber was released after 20 years in jail on 500,000 dollar (Canadian) bail and on condition that he remain mostly confined to his home, according to a court decision made public Friday.
The top court in Canada's westernmost province released the details of the controversial bail that was granted Wednesday to Inderjit Singh Reyat.
Revealing bail details is very unusual in Canada's justice system, due to automatic publication bans. But Justice Risa Levine told a surprise hearing Friday that "the publication ban has no application to the Court's procedure, which operates on the principle of openness."
Levine's ruling was posted on the court web site. Reyat is the only person convicted in two airline bombings on June 23, 1985, that were deemed the world's worst act of airborne terrorism before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Two baggage handlers died when a suitcase they were transferring to an Air India plane exploded at Japan's Narita airport. Another 329 people died when another bomb exploded aboard Air India Flight 182 off the coast of Ireland.
Reyat's bail outraged the relatives of Air India bombings victims. "The victims' families are deeply disappointed and seriously concerned about the implications of his release," Jacques Shore of the Air India Victims Families Association earlier said.
Reyat, who walked out of jail on Thursday for the first time in 20 years, had served full sentences for two separate convictions for his role in making the suitcase bombs.
He will return to court in January for a trial of one charge of perjury, after a judge called his testimony at the murder trials of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri "a pack of lies."
Prosecutors and police said the Air India bombings were part of a conspiracy by Sikh immigrants in Canada in retailiation for India's crack-down on Sikh fundamentalism in India.
The top court in Canada's westernmost province released the details of the controversial bail that was granted Wednesday to Inderjit Singh Reyat.
Revealing bail details is very unusual in Canada's justice system, due to automatic publication bans. But Justice Risa Levine told a surprise hearing Friday that "the publication ban has no application to the Court's procedure, which operates on the principle of openness."
Levine's ruling was posted on the court web site. Reyat is the only person convicted in two airline bombings on June 23, 1985, that were deemed the world's worst act of airborne terrorism before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Two baggage handlers died when a suitcase they were transferring to an Air India plane exploded at Japan's Narita airport. Another 329 people died when another bomb exploded aboard Air India Flight 182 off the coast of Ireland.
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Local media said the Reyat's bail conditions include weekly searches of his home by bomb-sniffing dogs, a ban on owning weapons including guns, crossbows or explosives, and only bail-supervisor-approved absences from his home to attend Sikh gurdwara (temple) or to go to a job. Reyat's bail outraged the relatives of Air India bombings victims. "The victims' families are deeply disappointed and seriously concerned about the implications of his release," Jacques Shore of the Air India Victims Families Association earlier said.
Reyat, who walked out of jail on Thursday for the first time in 20 years, had served full sentences for two separate convictions for his role in making the suitcase bombs.
He will return to court in January for a trial of one charge of perjury, after a judge called his testimony at the murder trials of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri "a pack of lies."
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Malik and Bagri were acquitted in 2005 in the Air India bombings case by a judge who ruled the chief prosecution witnesses against them were not credible. Prosecutors and police said the Air India bombings were part of a conspiracy by Sikh immigrants in Canada in retailiation for India's crack-down on Sikh fundamentalism in India.
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