Inderjit Singh Reyat is shown outside B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, B.C., in this September 10, 2010 photo. The B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld a perjury conviction for Air India bomber Inderjit Singh Reyat, who received Canada's longest perjury sentence. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
July 19, 2012 - 12:44 PM
VANCOUVER - The B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld a perjury conviction for Air India bomber Inderjit Singh Reyat, who received Canada's longest perjury sentence.
Reyat was handed a nine-year prison term for lying repeatedly at the 2003 trial of two men charged with mass murder and conspiracy in the 1985 bombing.
Reyat was a Crown witness at the trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were acquitted in the biggest case of aviation terrorism before the 9-11 attacks in the U.S.
Reyat's testimony was part of a deal that saw him plead guilty to manslaughter in the deaths of 329 people aboard Air India Flight 182 on June 23, 1985.
He has already served a 10-year sentence for the same-day deaths of two Tokyo baggage handlers who were killed when a bomb-laden suitcase meant for another Air India plane exploded prematurely.
Until Reyat's conviction, the longest perjury sentence ever handed down in Canada was six years for a case in Alberta.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012