www.theasianstar.com Vol 17 - Issue 51
Saturday, January 19, 2019
Tel:604-591-5423
Mother & uncle of slain woman to be extradited to India within days
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Sukhwinder Singh Sidhu and he Department of Justice says Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu Supplied two British Columbia residents Sidhu and Badesha had 30 days accused of hiring assassins to kill following the December ruling to a young BC woman and her new husband file another leave to appeal to the in India will be extradited to that country Supreme Court of Canada but within days. Malkit Kaur Sidhu and Surjit that period expired earlier this Singh Badesha (pictured) are accused in Surjit Singh Badesha month, meaning Canada is in a India of conspiracy to commit murder for Jassi Sidhu Malkit Kaur Sidhu position to “fulfil the extradition their alleged involvement in the slaying of Sidhu’s daughter and request, � says the statement from Department of Justice Badesha’s niece, Jaswinder “Jassi� Kaur Sidhu. She was killed and her husband was severely beaten after Sidhu travelled to India to marry spokesman Ian McLeod. Lawyers for Badesha and Sidhu went to the man her family did not consider acceptable. The victim’s mother the B.C. Court of Appeal to argue their clients weren’t given the and uncle were earlier ordered extradited to face charges and were en chance to review the federal justice minister’s decision to extradite route to India in September 2017 when their trip was halted in Toronto them and that they were denied access to counsel. The court ruled when defence lawyers filed a last-minute application for a judicial unanimously that while the minister’s conduct did amount to an review. Last month, the BC Court of Appeal denied their requests for abuse of process, it did not warrant a stay of proceedings. “This is a stay of proceedings and a judicial review. An email from the Justice a close case but we conclude the balance favours denying the stay,� Department says Badesha and Sidhu will be transferred before Jan. 25. wrote Chief Justice Robert Bauman and Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein on Continued on page 7
Canadian Muslim community facing horrors of polygamy Zaib’s life began to unravel with an unexpected phone call from her husband in early 2018. He told her he had married a second wife, an announcement that took the Toronto woman by surprise. “I went into shock mode. I was in a state of denial, saying no, no, this can’t be happening. I started getting the symptoms of anxiety, depression and crying spells,� Zaib said. Zaib (pictured), whose last name has agreed to withhold, said she got so sick her doctor recommended an extended leave of absence from work. Zaib and other Canadian Muslim women in a similar predicament believe this could be their own #MeToo moment, an opportunity Continued on page 7
Canadian Islam convert strangled in honour killing in Pakistan
A Canadian woman who converted to Islam was murdered in an honour killing in Pakistan, investigators say it was made to look like a suicide. According to a Pakistan media report, Safia Nasir, 40, was killed Continued on page 6
Safia Nasir’s casket surrounded by her family
Money laundering in BC estimated at $1B a year — but reports were not shared with province, AG says Documents that say money laundering in British Columbia now reaches into the billions of dollars are startling to the province’s attorney general, who says the figures have finally drawn the attention of the federal government. David Eby said he’s shocked and frustrated because the higher estimates appear to have been known by the federal government and the RCMP, but weren’t provided to the B.C. government He said he recently spoke to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale about information gaps concerning cash being laundered in B.C. and he’ll David Eby be meeting next week with Minister of Organized Crime Reduction Bill Blair. “I’ve been startled initially by the lack of response nationally to what appeared to me to be a very profound issue in B.C. that was of national concern,’’ said Eby. Surveillance video shows bundles of $20 bills dumped at a B.C. casino in an example of apparent money laundering. Last June, former Mountie Peter German estimated money laundering in B.C. amounted to more than $100 million in his governmentContinued on page 6
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