Perviz Madon (centre), whose husband was killed in the Air India bombing, speaks to media outside B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, B.C. on Friday January 7, 2011. Inderjit Singh Reyat was sentenced today to 9 years for lying at the trial of two men charged in a pair of bombings that killed 331 people.Simon Hayter/The Canadian Press
Inderjit Singh Reyat appeared relaxed as he entered the courtroom shortly before he was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison for perjury during the Air India trial that ended in 2005 with an acquittal of two Vancouver men accused of the murder of 331 people in the 1985 bombings.
Sitting next to an interpreter, Mr. Reyat leaned forward as he listened to Mr. Justice Mark McEwan of the B.C. Supreme Court deliver the stiffest sentence ever in Canada for perjury.
The court cannot leave the impression that it would tolerate a "determined subversion of the premises on which the whole justice system operates," Judge McEwan said.
"Mr. Reyat's determination not to give any useful information to the court directly pitted his commitment to activities inimical to the values of Canadian society against the very process that articulates and protects those values," Judge McEwan said. "His testimony radically undermined his previous representations of remorse, and casts serious doubt on his assertions he had been effectively taken advantage of by others," he said.
"In the witness box, Mr. Reyat behaved like a man still committed to a cause which treated hundreds of men, women and children [as]expendable," Judge McEwan said.
However, the judge also said it was impossible to decide whether the verdict at the Air India trial would have been different if Mr. Reyat had told the truth.
Judge McEwan added that the attitude underlying Mr. Reyat's perjury and his persistence in the course he has chosen suggest that his prospects of rehabilitation were dim.
Acknowledging that Mr. Reyat had been in custody for 8½ months before the trial, he gave him credit for 17 months under a formula that was in effect at the time of his arrest, leaving seven years and seven months more for the 58-year-old man to serve.
Mr. Reyat was convicted of perjury in September based on his testimony in 2003 at the trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were facing charges of murder for their role in the conspiracy to place explosives on the planes. They were acquitted of all charges.
Mr. Reyat's sentencing marks the end of all outstanding court proceedings related to the Air India disaster, the deadliest terrorist attack in Canadian history. Despite more than $130-million spent on the police investigation and court cases, he is the only person to be convicted of playing a role in the bombings in June of 1985.
Mr. Reyat has already served 20 years in jail for manslaughter for acquiring parts that were used for the two bombs placed on aircraft at the Vancouver airport. No one has ever been charged with making the bombs, bringing them to the airport or checking luggage with the bombs onto flights departing Vancouver.
Evidence in court indicated the devices were placed on the two flights by Vancouver-Based Sikh radicals who were fighting for an independent country to be carved out of India. One bomb exploded mid-air on an Air India flight from Canada to London's Heathrow airport. The second bomb exploded in Tokyo's Narita airport, shortly before it was to be placed on an Air India flight.
Outside the courtroom, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass told reporters that the Air India task force continues to follow up information related to the disaster. Currently, 25 officers are working full time on the file, he said.
He also said many people with information about the bombings have failed to come forward. At least one lawyer has advised someone who was involved in the plot to not assist police, he said. "One particular counsel said it would be bad for business," Mr. Bass said. He declined to identify the lawyer.
Perviz Madon, whose husband died in the terrorist attack, said she had not previously heard about the lawyer's advice. The lawyer's licence should be suspended, she said. Her son, Eddie Madon, said the lawyer's advice was "despicable."
Both Ms. Madon and her son were pleased with the nine-year sentence for Mr. Reyat. "I don't think anyone wins, " Ms. Madon added. "It's a hard day for me."
Eddie Madon said the sentence sends a strong message. "We have been through a roller-coast ride over the last 25 years. We have had very little justice at the end of the day. This is one little piece of justice we can cling to."