Closing arguments begin in Air India bombing trial

1.00pm

VANCOUVER - The defence in the Air India bombing trial began its closing arguments on Tuesday, accusing a key prosecution witness of lying that a defendant admitted to her he was involved in the 1985 plot that killed 331 people.

Lawyers for Ripudaman Singh Malik told the court in Vancouver that prosecutors also failed to prove the wealthy businessman had the political motivation to be involved in a conspiracy by Canadian-based Sikh militants.

"It is inconceivable that anybody would have participated in this crime without a political motive," David Crossin told the court.

Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri are charged with the mid-air destruction of Air India Flight 182 off the coast of Ireland in June 1985 that killed 329 people in history's deadliest bombing of civilian airliner.

They are also charged with an attempt to bomb a second Air India jet over the Pacific at the same time. Investigators say that bomb exploded prematurely, killing two airport workers in Tokyo.

Police allege the bombings were revenge for the Indian Army's bloody 1984 storming of Sikhism's Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Crossin said the case against Malik "stands or falls" based on the credibility of a former confidant who said he told her details of the bombing in 1996.

"It is our position that the evidence (of the witness) is neither reliable or credible," Crossin said.

The witness testified for several weeks, often talking emotionally about death threats she said she got because of her knowledge. The court has banned the media from disclosing her name.

Malik and Bagri are being tried jointly before a British Columbia Supreme Court judge, but using separate legal teams. Bagri's lawyers, and prosecutors, are scheduled to deliver their closing arguments later in the month.

The trial's opening arguments began in April 2003. The evidence has included explosives experts who gave the judge a tour of Flight 182's wreckage, which has been partially reconstructed in a secret warehouse in Vancouver.

A third defendant in the case, Inderjit Singh Reyat, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge before the trial started. He was called as a prosecution witness, but told the court he knew nothing about the alleged conspiracy.

Investigators allege the mastermind of the plot was Talwinder Singh Parmar, a founder of the Sikh militant group Babbar Khalsa, who was killed by police in India in 1992.

- REUTERS