Notwithstanding the sensational and distorted style of reporting by a section of the mainstream media that seems to thrive on preying on the fragile emotions of Air India victims’ families, the fact is that Air India bombmaker had served out his sentence and legally he should have been set free some months ago.
I believe that Reyat does know the identity of the mysterious ‘Third Man’ - the man who stayed at his house on Vancouver Island while he made and tested the bombs and to whom he handed over the bombs – and that that information could possibly lead to the conviction of some of those involved in the bombing plots: the June 23, 1985 Air India bombing off the coast of Ireland and the explosion at Narita airport in Japan.
However, to pressure him to reveal that information by keeping him in jail was not only illegal and unethical – indeed, it was a perversion of the law by both the police and the court, in my opinion – it would have also been unproductive, as I have argued in the past in this newspaper.
The police have consistently told lies and used dirty tactics on Reyat – something that I exposed time and time again in this newspaper over the past decade (see below for details) – just to cover up their own incompetence and bungling in the Air India bombing case.
Of course, some politicians are also trying to take advantage of the situation by coming up with strong statements against the granting of bail to Reyat. These opportunists should respect the law and the Charter of Rights.
So it was a relief that a judge in B.C. had the moral courage to follow the law and not be prejudiced or pressured by public opinion. B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Anne Rowles did the right thing on Wednesday by overturning B.C. Supreme Court Justice Patrick Dohm’s decision earlier this year to deny Reyat bail on the specious argument that to do so would undermine public confidence in the system. Reyat was freed on bail on Thursday.
The reasons in both decisions have been kept secret. The bail conditions are believed to be very strict – and they ought to be – as Reyat is facing perjury charges in connection with the Air India trial in which Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted. Indeed, Malik and Bagri were acquitted because the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency destroyed vital evidence for whatever reasons and the RCMP went to court without proper evidence and a star witness who proved to be a star flop as the judge didn’t believe her. What were the RCMP and Crown counsel thinking?
REYAT WON’T RAT OUT ANYONE
Now I will deal with why Reyat won’t rat out anyone before I write about the RCMP’s unethical tactics.
I wrote in The VOICE of March 8 that “the RCMP have been pressuring Reyat to reveal the identity of the mysterious Third Man who accompanied prime Air India bombing suspect Talwinder Singh Parmar to his home in Duncan on the Island and who stayed behind after Parmar departed. The Third Man apparently carried the bombs made by the two back to Vancouver. Identifying the Third Man is the key to solving the Air India bombing mystery.”
And back in January, I wrote: “The Globe and Mail carried a report that convicted Air India bomb maker Inderjit Singh Reyat has been offered a ratting-out deal on perjury charges. The laughable deal: two to five years in the slammer for revealing who all were involved in the plot. Another source told the reporter that Reyat was cool to what had been proposed.
“Of course, he would be – and here’s why …”
And then I referred to what I had written in July of last year in an article entitled, “Who can you believe: Reyat? National Parole Board? RCMP? None of them!”
I wrote: “As expected, the National Parole Board denied Inderjit Singh Reyat … parole, saying that he is "likely to commit an offence causing the death of or serious harm to another person before the expiration of the sentence you are now serving."
“You know what? That is a whole lot of bullshit. The Board can give a million reasons to back that decision up, but the fact is that Reyat is being denied parole because the RCMP WANT IT.
“For example, the Board said Reyat hadn't participated in any formal correctional programming and that he was refused permission to enter a violent offenders program because he failed a test that predicts recidivism (falling back into prior criminal habits).
“The Board also pointed to Reyat's testimony last November in which they said he minimized responsibility for the Air India bombing deaths. They said he didn't appear honest or credible and contradicted himself.
“Anyway, Reyat's five-year sentence for manslaughter in the Air India bombing ends next February 9. Pray, what guarantee is there that he would be any less of a danger (as the Board sees him as) at that time? None!
“But the RCMP hopes to harass him by putting pressure on him to rat out the Air India bombing suspects. That is the reason why even after they had BUNGLED UP the Air India bombing investigation, they are still dreaming of retrieving their doubtful honour in this case.
“Reyat was charged with perjury for statements he made during the Air India bombing trial.
“The ridiculous part of all this mess is that all along Reyat swore that he had nothing to do with the bomb making; then, he suddenly reached some kind of a deal with the Crown and suddenly remembered that indeed he had bought the bomb-making materials, but claimed that he didn't know that they were to be used in the Air India bombing. (He was sentenced to five years for manslaughter in 2003.) But he refused to say who all were involved in the plot, though, in my opinion, he knows EXACTLY who all were involved. He also knows FOR SURE the identity of the THIRD MAN - the man who stayed at his house on Vancouver Island while he made and tested the bombs and to whom he handed over the bombs.
“So, Reyat has never been truthful, really!
“And he never will be because he has suffered all along - just to make sure that his wife and children were well settled. He will NEVER rat out anyone because he will lose the only support he has left in society. You can send him to prison again and again. Good luck!”
RCMP’S DIRTY TACTICS
I first realized that the RCMP were really far from bringing the case to a conclusion in spite of their strident claims when I wrote in The VOICE in February 1998 that the Air India Task Force had claimed it was about to lay charges against the Air India bombing suspect.
That story caused a furor as The Vancouver Sun and The Province reporters scrambled to follow up my story even as red-faced RCMP scrambled to contain the damage.
The story was based on a letter (dated February 2, 1998) written by Inspector Gary D. Bass of the Air India Task Force. Bass is now the chief of the RCMP in this province.
The letter was addressed to the warden of Matsqui Institution, where Reyat was imprisoned, and was timed to prevent him from getting statutory parole.
The letter said: “I wish to emphasize that twenty (20) RCMP investigators in the Air India Task Force remain committed to bringing the Air India investigation to a successful conclusion. This includes charges being laid against Mr. Reyat and other suspects for the murders of three hundred and twenty-nine (329) passengers on board the Air India flight 182…The RCMP court brief will be presented to Vancouver Regional Crown Counsel next month (March 1998) for charge approval. The investigation has taken years to complete due to various extenuating circumstances, however, I assure you that the court brief along with evidence packages are near completion. The Air India Task Force will recommend that Mr. Reyat and the chief accused persons be charged with Conspiracy to Commit Murder (Air India and Narita bombings) along with other crimes.”
Reyat, of course, was denied parole.
The RCMP’s claim of the case being ready was not true.
Then, a year later, when Reyat’s review came up again, I did another exclusive story in another ethnic newspaper I was working for at the time and that story was picked up again by The Vancouver Sun a few days later.
In a letter dated March 4, 1999, Cpl. R.G. Ginn of the Air India Task Force wrote to the warden of Matsqui Institution that “Sgt. Sproule advised that at a previous hearing for early release by Mr. Reyat, Sgt. Sproule observed that a parole board member asked Mr. Reyat why he had not registered the 357 Magnum revolver found at his residence in November, 1985. Mr. Reyat replied that he intended to register this revolver but had not done so yet. Sgt. Sproule and S/Sgt. Rockwell believed that this revolver’s serial number was removed in such a fashion that even if Mr. Reyat wanted to register the revolver that he would not have been able to register it in that condition.
“It was confirmed that this revolver did not have a serial number on it when seized from Mr. Reyat’s residence and a member of the RCMP Forensic Laboratory was able to raise the serial number for investigators in order to identify the owner.
“Sgt. Sproule also felt that the parole board members should also know that it was determined that the owner was an East Indian from Yuba City, California.
“In August of 1988, an attempt was made on Tara Singh Hayer’s life by an assassin using another revolver also registered to the same person who was the registered owner of the revolver found at Reyat’s residence. Although Mr. Hayer survived this attack, unfortunately another assassination attempt resulted in the loss of Mr. Hayer’s life in November of 1998.
“In the event that you or the parole board members may not be aware of this information, it is hereby provided to you.”
Needless to say, Reyat was denied early parole again. The letter’s timing clearly exposed the RCMP’s dirty tactics.
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