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A-I bombing accused may not be charged with murder

One of the suspects in the 1985 Air-India bombing, Inderjit Singh Reyat, may never face murder charges because of a technicality in international law, CBC Radio reported Wednesday.

On Friday, police named Reyat, who is serving a 10-year prison term for an explosion at Tokyo's Narita airport which killed two, as an unindicted co-conspirator in the bombing of Air-India flight 182, which exploded off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people aboard.

That led many to wonder why the Royal Canadian Mounted Police did not press charges against Reyat along with two other Sikh men, who were charged with eight counts related to the Air-India bombing and Tokyo explosion.

Both incidents occurred on June 23, 1985 and police say the bomb-laden baggage involved in both blasts originated from flights out of Vancouver, British Columbia.

CBC Radio reports that police do want to charge Reyat, a dual Canadian and British citizen, but have their hands tied by an international law on extradition, which specifies that a person can only be tried for offences stipulated in an extradition request.

And the Canadian extradition request for Reyat, who was returned by Britain in 1989, was for charges related to the Tokyo explosion, but made no mention of the Air-India bombing, according to CBC Radio.

Legal experts told CBC Radio that "chances of finding a way around the impasse are minuscule."

So Reyat, whose sentence was imposed in 1991, may be released next year.

Vancouver businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik, 53, and Ajaib Singh Bagri, 51, two of the three people arrested in connection with the Air-India bombing, appeared in court Monday and were remanded in custody for 30 days.

Bail hearings for the two could come as early as the end of this week.

A third suspect was released Monday after being held by police 24 hours. RCMP spokesman John Ward said he is still a "person of interest."

The RCMP have said they will be making more arrests in the case and their 15-year investigation has long centred on the large Sikh community in Vancouver.

Police believe the Air India bombing was in retaliation for a 1984 attack by Indian troops on the sacred Sikh temple of Amritsar.

The Air-India bombing is considered the largest mass-murder case in Canadian history and one of the worst recorded incidents of air terrorism.

AFP

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