VANCOUVER The only person convicted in the 1985 Air India bombings has been granted a statutory release from prison to a halfway house.
Inderjit Singh Reyat was charged with perjury in 2006 for repeatedly lying during his testimony at a trial into the bombing deaths of 331 people, mostly Canadians.
He was found guilty in 2010 and was sentenced to nine years in prison — the longest prison sentence for perjury in Canadian history.
Under the law, offenders must be granted statutory release after they have served two thirds of their sentence.
Conditional Release
His release is not without conditions. Reyat must avoid certain persons, participating in political activities, not have any contact with the victim’s families, possess any components that could be used to build an explosive device or possess extremist propaganda. He has to reside at a specified location, participate in counselling and report to his parole officer.
In its decision, the Parole Board of Canada said Reyat has acknowledged his offences were a result of his association with individuals prepared to use extreme violence in support of religious beliefs, but the documents also describe his shift to accepting responsibility as “only partial and relatively recent”.
For the victims, the release opens old wounds. Dr Bal Gupta lost his wife in the bombing. He expressed grief at Reyat’s early release.
“He will be with his family, children or wife…but for the [victim] families, it is a life-long punishment,” Gupta said.
Last year, families gathered around Stanley Park memorial to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the bombings.
Timeline to terror
June 5, 1984: Sikhs around the world are outraged after India’s government orders a raid on the seat of the Sikh faith, the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
October 30, 1984: Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation. Thousands of Sikhs die in riots in Indian cities.
June 23, 1985: Two baggage handlers at Tokyo’s Narita airport are killed when a bag explodes as it is being transferred from a Canadian Airlines plane to an Air India flight bound for Delhi. An hour later Air India Flight 182 is en route from Montreal to Delhi when a bomb explodes. The 747 crashes into the Atlantic near Ireland, killing 329 people including parents, children and grandparents.
November 8, 1985: Inderjit Singh Reyat is arrested in connection with the bombings but is later fined for a minor, unrelated charge. He returns to Coventry, where he spent his childhood.
February 1988: Reyat is arrested by armed police in Coventry.
May 10, 1991: Reyat is sentenced to 10 years in prison on manslaughter and explosives charges related to the Narita bombing.
October 27, 2000: Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik are arrested and charged in the bombing of Flights 301 and 182.
June 4, 2001: The British government grants permission for Reyat to be charged in connection with the Air India blast.
June 6, 2001: Reyat is charged over the Air India Flight 182 bombing just days before a 10-year sentence for his role in the Narita bombing is up.
February 10, 2003: Reyat admits 329 counts of manslaughter, and is sentenced to five years.
2008: Reyat is released from prison.
2010- 2011: He is convicted of perjury and sentenced to a further nine years in prison – a record term for the offence.
November 2012: Reyat’s lawyers appeal to the Canadian Supreme Court against perjury conviction.
Jan 2016: Inderjit Singh Reyat, released from prison in Canada after serving two decades behind bars.