VANCOUVER - The only man ever convicted in the Air India bombings issued an apology of sorts Thursday for the deaths of 331 people, telling the judge who will sentence him for perjury that he regretted "these events."
But the statement read out by the lawyer for Inderjit Singh Reyat at his sentencing hearing failed to acknowledge his role in the twin explosions on June 23, 1985, that remain the worst act of mass murder ever plotted on Canadian soil.
"No words in any language can ever bring closure to those who have lost loves ones as a result of the Air India and Narita tragedies," Reyat said in the statement read out in B.C. Supreme Court. "Neither can words bring back those who perished in such tragic circumstances."
In the statement read out by lawyer Ian Donaldson, Reyat said his belief in God has sustained him, his four children and his wife, who has kept the family intact through 30 years of legal uncertainty -- most of it with Reyat behind bars.
"I pray every day that God will ease the terrible burden of loss that so many people continue to suffer as a consequence of these terrible events," he said of the worst act of aviation terrorism until the 9-11 attacks in the United States.
As Donaldson finished reading the statement, Reyat appeared to be wiping away tears.
The apology was immediately dismissed by special prosecutor Len Doust, who said simply: "No proffer of truth."
B.C. Supreme Court Justice McEwan questioned why Reyat included references to God in his statement, noting that his crimes include lying under oath at the trial of two men charged with murder and conspiracy in the bombings.
In 2006, Reyat apologized at a National Parole Board hearing for the suffering borne by the families of the bombing victims but the Crown has called that a "hollow apology" because he didn't acknowledge any wrongdoing then, either.
The first Air India blast killed 329 people, mostly Canadians, aboard Air India Flight 182 when it crashed over the Atlantic Ocean near Ireland after leaving Montreal.
That was an hour after a bomb-laden suitcase exploded at Tokyo's Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers who were transporting luggage to another Air India flight carrying 250 passengers.
Reyat was convicted of supplying bomb parts in the Narita bombing and served 10 years for manslaughter.
In 2003, he testified at the trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were charged with mass murder and conspiracy as part of a plea agreement that netted him a five-year sentence for manslaughter for his role in the deaths of 329 passengers aboard Flight 182.
In September, he was convicted of perjury for his testimony at that trial.
McEwan said Thursday that Reyat's perjury conviction raises questions about the admissions that saw him serve the five-year manslaughter sentence.
Reyat said in the agreed statement of facts in that case that while he obtained materials for the explosives, he didn't construct the suitcase bombs and didn't know who did.
The Crown has maintained that British Columbia-based Sikhs hatched a plot to take revenge against government-owned Air India after the Indian army stormed Sikhism's holiest shrine in Amritsar in June 1984 in an effort to oust Sikh separatists.
The Crown is seeking a sentence near the 14-year maximum, saying Reyat's lies robbed the families of the Air India bombing victims of justice.
Donaldson said that apart from his convictions for his role in the two explosions, his client's behaviour has been impeccable and he deserves a lenient sentence as a decent human being who otherwise doesn't have a pattern of anti-social behaviour.
"You don't need to be anti-social," McEwan responded.
"What happened here is a group of individuals got together and for a political purpose decided they had the right to execute 331 people, and but for an accident of timing would have taken down another 250 people."
Donaldson said Reyat didn't know about such a plan and didn't take part in it.
"He pled guilty to manslaughter," McEwan said.
Prior to Reyat's apology, the judge noted Reyat's lack of remorse for crimes that killed so many people. He said Reyat had refused to make amends even 25 years later.
"Certainly there's an attitudinal problem here," McEwan said.
The longest sentence ever handed out for perjury was six years, to an Alberta man.
Reyat will be sentenced on Jan. 7.
