Canada’s justice division is preventing to forestall “delicate” nationwide safety information from rising on the upcoming homicide trial of 4 Indian males accused of gunning down a B.C. Sikh chief in 2023.
In an software to the Federal Courtroom, attorneys representing the Legal professional Basic of Canada requested for permission to withhold some proof on the prosecution of the alleged killers of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Courtroom paperwork launched to International Information don’t specify which particulars they’re searching for to hold confidential, however they argued that releasing them “can be injurious to worldwide relations and nationwide safety.”
The case towards the suspected killers of the Sikh temple president is being intently watched due to allegations the federal government of India ordered the homicide as a part of a marketing campaign to silence its political opponents overseas.
The claims, first made public in September 2023 by then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, set off a diplomatic rift between Canada and India. Ottawa later expel Indian diplomats and consular officers from the nation.
Since taking workplace, Prime Minister Mark Carney has reengaged with India and sought to increase commerce relations. Canadian Sikhs have known as {that a} betrayal, given India’s alleged concentrating on of them.
It isn’t uncommon for federal attorneys to ask a decide to permit them to chorus from disclosing nationwide safety information in trials. Usually, it happens when the information in query was offered by a international company.
“In Canada, the Legal professional Basic has the facility to apply to the Federal Courtroom for an order to, in essence, shield sure kinds of information from being launched publicly and to the defence,” mentioned College of Calgary legislation professor Michael Nesbitt.
“Such purposes are neither uncommon nor unusual, and are ruled by legislation and courtroom oversight, whereas the defence has the chance to problem the appliance,” mentioned Nesbitt, a number one nationwide safety legislation professional.
“We see this type of software quite a bit within the anti-terrorism and nationwide safety realm, however usually additionally with respect to instances the place it’s crucial to shield information related to undercover operators, informants, or information acquired from Canada’s allies the place such worldwide cooperation has occurred.”
Canadian Justice officers filed their courtroom software on Dec. 24, 2025.
A Division of Justice spokesperson mentioned the Legal professional Basic of Canada was searching for an order beneath a bit of the Canada Proof Act “confirming the prohibition of disclosure of sure information.”
“We can not present additional element presently.”
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The B.C. Prosecution Service, which is prosecuting the 4 accused, declined to touch upon the Federal Courtroom case. A spokesperson mentioned the case was within the pretrial part, which is topic to a publication ban.
Nijjar was shot useless in his pickup truck on June 18, 2023, as he was leaving Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Temple. The RCMP believes India tapped mob boss Lawrence Bishnoi to organize the killing.
In Might 2024, the 2 suspected shooters, Amandeep Singh and Karanpreet Singh, the alleged getaway driver Karan Brar and a fourth suspect, Kamalpreet Singh, had been arrested in Alberta and Ontario.
They’ve been charged with homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide. Neither Lawrence Bishnoi, who’s imprisoned in India, nor his Canadian lieutenant on the time, Goldy Brar, have been charged within the homicide.
The attorneys representing Amandeep Singh, Karanpreet Singh and Karan Brar, declined to touch upon the matter. Kamalpreet Singh’s lawyer didn’t reply to emails from International Information.
India has mentioned it has seen no proof of its function within the plot.
India residents Karan Brar, left to proper, Kamalpreet Singh and Karanpreet Singh, in addition to Amandeep Singh (not proven) have been charged with the homicide of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, RCMP
A Canadian citizen who immigrated from India, Nijjar was a pacesetter within the Khalistan separatist motion that seeks independence for India’s Sikh majority Punjab state. Though India known as him a terrorist, he confronted no costs in Canada.
On the time he was killed, Nijjar was organizing a symbolic referendum that requested members of the Sikh diaspora in the event that they supported Khalistan independence. The opposite suspected targets of India’s marketing campaign had been additionally principally Khalistan activists.
The preliminary tip implicating high-level Indian officers within the killing got here from communications intercepted by the UK and shared with Canada by British intelligence, sources have advised International Information.
Conversations mentioning targets in Canada had been additionally picked up by the FBI throughout its investigation into an analogous plot by which an Indian intelligence officer employed a legal to kill a pro-Khalistan activist within the U.S.
Such intelligence is commonly shared with allies on the understanding that it can’t be utilized in courtroom, mentioned nationwide safety legislation professional Leah West, an affiliate professor on the Norman Paterson College of Worldwide Affairs in Ottawa.
“It’s typical, in instances the place the police obtain information from different intelligence companies throughout an investigation, for the Legal professional Basic to search to have that information protected from disclosure,” she mentioned.
“The idea for searching for to withhold it’s referred to as nationwide safety privilege. The argument for that’s that if disclosed, the information might reveal means and strategies, investigative pursuits, or personnel of the service and doing so can be detrimental to Canadian nationwide safety.”
A decide has to affirm the privilege, she mentioned. As well as, the information in query can’t be used towards an accused, and something that would level to the innocence of a defendant have to be disclosed, she added.
State actors resembling China, India and Iran have lengthy sought to intimidate and silence members of Canada’s diaspora communities, a follow referred to as transnational repression.
“Transnational repression is rising as one of the crucial severe but least understood threats to safety and democracy in Canada,” mentioned a report launched on Tuesday by the Montreal Institute for International Safety.
“As international states more and more goal people on Canadian soil, by intimidation, surveillance, digital harassment, coercion of members of the family overseas, and, in some instances, plans for bodily hurt, Canada faces a problem that strikes on the core of its democratic values and establishments.”
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
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