[ad_1]
Judicial proceedings in opposition to the 4 males arrested for the June 18, 2023 homicide of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on the premises of a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia (B.C.), have made no substantive progress.
The case has been adjourned 5 instances since Could this 12 months, when the accused had been arrested. It’s now scheduled to be taken up on November 21.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and different officers have repeatedly claimed to have supplied credible and irrefutable proof of hyperlinks between Nijjar’s killers and the Indian authorities. India has stated that not “a shred of proof” has been supplied by Canada over the previous 12 months, since Trudeau first alleged an Indian hand within the homicide in September 2023.
All 4 accused, who allegedly performed roles as shooters, drivers, and spotters on the day Nijjar was killed, stay in a police holding facility. That is what has occurred since their arrests.
ON MAY 3, 2024, Karan Brar (22), Kamalpreet Singh (22), and Karanpreet Singh (28), had been arrested in Edmonton, the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta.
All three males had been charged with first-degree homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide within the Nijjar case. Police stated that they had travelled from Edmonton to Surrey to hold out the killing.
Not one of the males had been identified to police beforehand, Superintendent Mandeep Mooker, Officer in Cost of the Built-in Murder Investigation Crew (IHIT), informed reporters on the B.C. headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Surrey.
Later that day, RCMP Assistant Commissioner David Teboul stated the probe included “investigating connections to the Authorities of India”, and was “definitely not restricted to the involvement of the individuals arrested at this time”.
In keeping with the RCMP, all three males had arrived in Canada on non-permanent visas over the previous three to 5 years, and had been residents of Edmonton.
Karan, who hails from Kotkapura in Punjab, arrived in Canada on a pupil visa in 2019, when he was nonetheless in his teenagers. Canadian media reported that Bow Valley Faculty in Calgary had stated that one Karan Brar had enrolled in 2020 for an eight-month course for a well being care clerk, however couldn’t say whether or not he even attended lessons or accomplished the programme.
Kamalpreet too, arrived in Edmonton in 2019, the place his sister lives. Karanpreet was his good friend, and shared a house with him. Karan met the 2 on the wedding ceremony of Kamalpreet’s sister in 2023.
FOUR DAYS LATER, on Could 7, the three males, carrying orange jumpsuits, appeared earlier than B.C. Provincial Court docket decide Delaram Jahani. The Provincial Court docket is the primary stage of trial courtroom in B.C., beneath the Supreme Court docket and the very best courtroom within the province, the Court docket of Enchantment.
Karan and Karanpreet agreed via their legal professionals to make a subsequent look on Could 21. Kamalpreet sought authorized illustration, and one other date was set for him.
Karanpreet’s lawyer Jay Michi stated the defence was starting to wade via a “large wave” of disclosures from the Crown to seek out out what might be challenged in courtroom. He stated the method would take time.
THE FOURTH SUSPECT, Amandeep Singh (22), was arrested in Brampton, Ontario, on Could 11. The Globe and Mail reported that three weeks earlier than Nijjar was shot, Amandeep was charged by Surrey RCMP with harmful driving and fleeing police.
Court docket paperwork confirmed that Amandeep had signed an enterprise on June 6, 2023, agreeing to look in courtroom. He had additionally declared that he didn’t possess firearms.
Twelve days later, Amandeep allegedly opened fireplace on Nijjar within the car parking zone of the B.C. gurdwara. As per courtroom filings, hours earlier than the taking pictures, he was seen within the neighborhood of the gurdwara, allegedly behaving erratically.
Amandeep first appeared in courtroom on Could 15, however the case was adjourned to Could 21.
ON MAY 21, all 4 males appeared collectively earlier than the Provincial Court docket for the primary time. Karan, Kamalpreet, and Karanpreet appeared in individual, whereas Amandeep appeared by a video hyperlink. Choose Emmet Duncan spoke to the lads via an interpreter and put them below a “no-contact order”, which is a bar on establishing direct or oblique contact with specified people.
The case was adjourned to June 25. On that day, the case was adjourned once more to August 7.
ON AUGUST 7, defence legal professionals appeared on behalf of their accused shoppers by way of video on Microsoft Groups, alongside Crown Prosecutor Louise Kenworthy, who requested one other adjournment.
She knowledgeable the courtroom that the Crown had been working to supply disclosure to the defendants, however the course of was anticipated to take a number of extra months. Native media in Surrey reported that Kenworthy stated the defence had acquired “within the area of about 10,000 pages of disclosure”, and that the Crown hoped to reveal “about 10,000 extra by the tip of subsequent week”.
Native media stories stated the voluminous nature of the courtroom filings indicated the RCMP had carried out a complete investigation, and {that a} prolonged trial may observe.
Provincial Court docket decide Mark Jetté adjourned the matter to October 1. This was the fourth adjournment since Could 15.
A FIFTH ADJOURNMENT got here on October 1, once more on the request of Crown Prosecutor Kenworthy, who appeared in individual earlier than Provincial Court docket decide Jodie Harris. The 4 defence legal professionals appeared just about earlier than the courtroom, the Surrey Now-Chief reported.
“We have now not but supplied all of the disclosure to my associates, and we’re not at some extent the place I may say substantive disclosure has been accomplished,” Kenworthy stated. “I’ll advise the courtroom that choices are being thought of for the switch of the file to Superior Court docket. So these are the 2 issues unfolding, which is why I’m asking for the lengthy adjournment at this time.”
The decide adjourned the case to November 21. She agreed with Kenworthy’s request to mark the following date as a set date and never a bail listening to, “given this courtroom doesn’t have jurisdiction to find out bail on this matter”.
[ad_2]