Nijjar suspects make court appearance in New Westminster

The four men accused in a high-profile assassination case of a Sikh leader two years ago in Surrey appeared in a New Westminster court by video Wednesday.

The men accused, Karanpreet Singh, Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh, and Amandeep Singh, are all facing charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder against Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar was a high-profile supporter of Khalistan, a movement for an independent Sikh state in India. He was regarded by the Indian government as a terrorist.

His killing in 2023 sent waves through the Sikh community, in Surrey, and across the world.

Nijjar was murdered on June 18, 2023, in front of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. The case has frayed Canada-India relations, especially after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was credible intelligence linking the murder to the Indian government.

Everyone on trial in Canada gets a choice of a French or English trial. All four accused chose to have their future court proceedings in English.

It was mostly a procedural day for the accused Wednesday, with the court setting dates for more video appearances later this summer.

Despite the procedural nature, a crowd of Nijjar’s supporters were in the audience and outside court, waving Khalistan flags.

After his death, Nijjar’s supporters called him a martyr for his cause.

“We realize that — Mr. Toor is to the left of me here, myself, others in our community — many others have a duty to warn of imminent assassination,” said Moninder Singh with the B.C. Gurdwaras Council.

“That doesn’t stop us from coming here, from expressing our views. Because that’s what, essentially, India wants. They want to silence us. They want to make sure we don’t have the ability to speak out. And we’re duty-bound, as leadership roles in our community, to be taking this case forward. Mr. Nijjar died for this. We don’t want anyone else to be harmed.”

The accused are set to appear in court again on June 26, but the trial is likely to continue well beyond that date. Crown counsel is expected to field tens of thousands of pages of submissions related to the case.