International - India & World

``Conduct terrorism cases by juries''

Toronto: Trials in high-profile terrorism cases should be conducted by a panel of judges and have a better chance of winning public approval if verdicts are delivered by juries, a former judge, who sparked a storm by acquitting two men in the Air India (Kanishka) bombing, has said.

``I would have loved a jury trial to have made the factual findings in that case,'' Justice Ian Josephson of British Columbia Supreme Court said at a conference, organised by the Federal Court of Canada and Carleton University in Ottawa on Monday.

``I think there's better acceptance of a verdict from a jury in the community, whether they convict or acquit.

But that was out of my hands,'' media reports quoted him as saying. Mr. Josephson presided over the case of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri after the two, who had initially chosen to put their fates in the hands of a jury, changed their minds and opted for trial by a judge sitting alone.

Both defendants were acquitted of a range of charges, including first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, after Mr. Josephson concluded the testimony of some key witnesses were not credible and the Crown had not proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The families of the bombing victims were outraged over the verdict in March 2005. — PTI

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