Twenty years and $130 million in taxpayer revenue
has ended without justice for the families of the 329
passengers and crew killed in the June 23, 1985,
bombing of Air India flight 182. On that same day,
two baggage handlers were killed and four others
wounded when a bag coming off a CP flight explod-
ed in Narita, Japan. Both flights flew out of
Vancouver, where the 19-month trial has been held.

Justice Ian Josephson said the evidence against
Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri fell
“markedly short” of the requisite standard of proof.
In part, CSIS and the RCMP are to blame for the
botched prosecution. The two strong arms of
Canadian law fought like mosquitoes on a pimple,
and erased crucial wiretap evidence after witnesses
against the defendants were deemed not credible.

A woman who claimed to have loved Malik, and
had heard him confess to the bombings, could not be
relied upon as a witness, according to Josephson.
Obviously not an Oprah watcher, Josephson was
unable to comprehend how a woman could still love
a man who committed such heinous crimes.

Cries came from the crowd as family members
who had come from around the world were shocked
by the not-guilty verdict—a heartbreaking end to one
of the most costly and complex criminal trials in
Canadian history. Calls for an inquiry have already
come from the families of the victims.

The bombing was in retaliation for the 1984
Indian Army assault on the holiest Sikh shrine, the
Golden Temple in the city of Amritsar. Hundreds
died in the siege, which also resulted in Indian PM
Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her two Sikh body-
guards. A Sikh uprising in Canada then manifested,
culminating with the order to bomb the two flights.

This trial was being watched internationally as a
test case in trying terrorist actions. Canada has again
fallen “markedly short” of its obligation.

March 23/2005

News Wears Short Shorts

Brandon Ferguson, News Editor

Trial of the Century

Immediately after being acquitted of
killing his wife, former Baretta star
Robert Blake pitched a plea to
Hollywood. “I’m broke; I need a
job,” he told reporters.

Ah, only in Hollywood.

Blake was charged in the May 4,
2001, shooting death of Bonny Lee
Bakley, his wife of six months and

mother of their four-year-old

 

daughter. After dining out at
Vitello’s, Blake and Bakley walked
the two blocks to their car. Upon
reaching the car, Blake remembered
that he had left his .38 revolver back

at the restaurant and returned to get
it. When he got back to the car,
Bakley had been shot in the head.

It’s a low-down dirty shame, but
isn’t that how it always happens?
Right when you leave to get your
gun. Dang.

The gun used to kill Bakley was
not in Blake’s collection of guns, nor
was the ammunition used found at
his house. Two former stuntmen
also testified that Blake had
approached them with an offer to
whack his wife. However, both
stuntmen were too hopped up on
blow and Jose Canseco juice to be
believed. In the end, the jury was
unable to link Blake to the murder
weapon of to anyone with the men-
tal capacity to arrange a hit.

Of all the trials of the century,
this one got the least play. Frankly,
Baretta wasn’t that good, and I
haven’t believed in small-guy, bad-
guy characters ever since I saw wee
Sly Stallone at a Hard Rock Cafe.
Freedom cost Blake $10 million, and
a civil suit launched by the family of
Bakley begins in July.

Oh, did I mention that Bakley
used to take nude shots of herself
with gentlemen suitors in compro-
mising situations to sell back to said
gentlemen in some kind of low-rent
extortion scam? Well, maybe next
time on... Barefta.

 

 

Er. Trial of the Century

Why is it that America loves beauti-
ful people so much? The inner cities
are rotting from the inside out,
healthcare doesn’t exist, diplomacy is
deader than disco and the dodo, and
NASCAR’s a certifiable sport, yet
soccer is pooh-poohed. And still
they send half their army of media
personalities and crews to cover dip-
shit Scott Peterson’s trial for killing
his very pretty and pregnant wife
Laci.

The most recent installment of
Trial of the Century has finally come to
a close, as the presiding judge sen-
tenced Scott to die after a stay in the
lovely San Quentin State Prison,
which overlooks the same bay that
Laci was found in. Isn’t justice
sweet?

In the final installment of the
trial before the inevitable appeal
began, Laci’s relatives stood before
Scott and told him what an ass he
was.

Brent Rocha, Laci’s brother, bust-
ed out the old “I’za gonna keel you”
routine, telling Scott that he contem-
plated shooting him during the

 

investigation. “I chose not to kill you
myself for one reason: so you would
have to sweat it out and not take the
easy way out,” he told Scott.

The more heart-wrenching stuff
came from Laci’s mother, Sharon
Rocha.

“You decided to throw Laci and
Conner away, dispose of them like
they were just a piece of garbage,”
she said. “We had to bury Laci with-
out her arms to hold her baby and
without her head.”

www.theotherpress.ca

At one point, Scott’s father stood
up in protest and left the courtroom.

Now that America has obsessed
over another pretty lady’s death, I’m
sute that the root evil that has been
exposed will be dispatched and dis-
posed of forever and ever, amen.
Just like how spousal abuse and
insane ex-lover jealous rampages
have been cured thanks to OJ.’s
courageous stand. Right? Hello? Is
anybody listening?

un