Close X
Sunday, November 10, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. Supreme Court Jury Finds Man Guilty Of Smuggling Tamil Migrants To Canada

The Canadian Press, 29 May, 2017 12:04 PM
    VANCOUVER — A prosecutor says a man accused of bringing hundreds of Tamil migrants into Canada illegally in a dilapidated cargo ship nearly seven years ago has been found guilty.
     
    Crown counsel Charles Hough says a B.C. Supreme Court jury found Kunarobinson Christhurajah guilty Saturday of human smuggling 10 or more persons.
     
    It was a retrial for the Sri Lankan national over his involvement in the voyage of the MV Sun Sea that travelled from Thailand to British Columbia's coast in 2010.
     
    The vessel, which was considered unseaworthy in the open ocean, crossed the Pacific without a formal crew, carrying 492 Sri Lankan Tamils who intended to claim refugee status.
     
     
    A previous trial heard Christhurajah was an asylum seeker and travelled on the Sun Sea with his wife, while Rajaratnam's mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law and two cousins were on board.
     
    The trial which ended in January acquitted three other men who had been accused human smuggling in the case, but the jury at the time was left undecided on Christhurajah.
     
    Christhurajah served more than six years in jail before being granted bail in February.
     
    Hough wouldn't comment further on the case and Christhurajah's lawyer Casey Leggett also declined to comment.
     
    Justice Catherine Wedge did not schedule a sentencing hearing, and Hough says Christhurajah remains free on bail.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    La Loche Shooter Asked For Gift To Mark Anniversary Of Shooting That Killed Four

    La Loche Shooter Asked For Gift To Mark Anniversary Of Shooting That Killed Four
    MEADOW LAKE, Sask. — A teen gunman who killed four people in northern Saskatchewan wanted a gift to mark the one-year anniversary of the shooting.

    La Loche Shooter Asked For Gift To Mark Anniversary Of Shooting That Killed Four

    Sonia Virk: Leading the way

    Sonia Virk: Leading the way
    In today’s world as more and more women are taking up leadership roles, here’s one South Asian woman whose success story is an inspiration to many. 

    Sonia Virk: Leading the way

    Vancouver Requires Carbon Monoxide Alarms, Sets Fines For Unsafe Behaviours

    Vancouver Requires Carbon Monoxide Alarms, Sets Fines For Unsafe Behaviours
    VANCOUVER — The City of Vancouver has tightened its fire bylaw in an effort to keep residents safe from threats ranging from carbon monoxide to grass fires.

    Vancouver Requires Carbon Monoxide Alarms, Sets Fines For Unsafe Behaviours

    Rising Waters Of B.C. Rivers Still Causing Soggy Woe For Southern Interior

    VANCOUVER — Waterways in British Columbia's Nicola Valley, near Merritt, are the latest to burst their banks, forcing evacuations and alerts, as flooding continues to cause problems across the southern Interior. 

    Rising Waters Of B.C. Rivers Still Causing Soggy Woe For Southern Interior

    Scooter Enthusiast's Round-the-World Trip Comes To Crashing Halt Near Calgary

    Scooter Enthusiast's Round-the-World Trip Comes To Crashing Halt Near Calgary
    CALGARY — A Polish man's effort to circumnavigate the globe on two wheels came to a screeching halt when his scooter was struck by a car on the TransCanada Highway east of Calgary.

    Scooter Enthusiast's Round-the-World Trip Comes To Crashing Halt Near Calgary

    Judge FindsCalgary Man Guilty Of Manslaughter In Wife's Strangulation, Burying Body In Basement

    Judge FindsCalgary Man Guilty Of Manslaughter In Wife's Strangulation, Burying Body In Basement
    CALGARY — A Calgary judge has rejected a man's argument that he acted in self-defence when he strangled his wife and buried her body in their basement.

    Judge FindsCalgary Man Guilty Of Manslaughter In Wife's Strangulation, Burying Body In Basement