Air India bomb maker found guilty of perjury

The only man to serve time for the 1985 Air India bombings is back in jail.

After more than 20 hours of deliberations a British Columbia Supreme Court jury unanimously found Inderjit Singh Reyat guilty of perjury on Saturday.

Reyat was charged with lying repeatedly during the 2003 trial of Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudman Singh Malik. The pair were charged with mass murder in the bombings. Both men were eventually acquitted.

Reyat, who has already served a total of 25 years in jail for his part in the 1985 bombings, is being held in custody until his two-day sentencing hearing begins on Nov. 17.

Defence lawyer Ian Donaldson had argued his client needn't be remanded.

"In two-plus years, there has been no suggestion or hint of any breach at all," Donaldson told The Canadian Press, explaining that his client had "complied impeccably" with bail conditions since his release in July 2008.

But B.C. Supreme Court Judge Mark McEwan thought differently.

"My view of it is that Mr. Reyat has been convicted by a jury of a very serious charge," McEwan said, ruling that Reyat would be immediately taken into custody.

Reyat was accused by the Crown of lying 19 times during his 2003 testimony in an effort to minimize his involvement in the bombings, to protect people who were part of the conspiracy and to protect himself from retribution.

In 1991, Reyat was convicted of manslaughter for building the explosive device that detonated at Tokyo's Narita Airport, killing two baggage handlers as they loaded an Air India Plane.

Then, he pleaded guilty in 2003 to buying the parts for a second bomb that destroyed Air India Flight 182 as it flew over the Atlantic Ocean on its way from Montreal to London. There were no survivors; all 329 people on the flight perished.

Reyat could face a maximum of 14-years in prison when he is sentenced on this third conviction in mid-November. His lawyer is seeking a sentence of between two and three years.

Following the verdict, special prosecutor Len Doust wouldn't say what sentence the Crown will request. He also refused to comment on whether the perjury verdict might open the door to a retrial for Malik and Bagri.

With files from The Canadian Press

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  Inderjit Singh Reyat, the only man ever convicted in the Air India bombings of 1985, waits outside B.C. Supreme Court during a fire drill which forced everyone in the building outside prior to the start of the second day of his perjury trial in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday September 10, 2010. (Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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  Renee Saklikar runs her hand across the names of victims on a memorial honouring those killed in the bombing of Air India Flight 182, at Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C., on Thursday June 17, 2010. Her aunt and uncle, doctors Zebunnisa Jethwa and Umar Jethwa were killed in the bombing. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)