Basi & Virk In BC Supreme Court 18 Sept '06

Sept. 18 and 19, I searched every newspaper as well as CBC News and CKNW for this information, and found nothing, although this is a trial which could shake the very foundations of our governments. That's why I e.mailed the Times Colonist. You saw the response kindly sent by the Editor-in-Chief confirming the hearing but providing no details. Why on earth not? Either the defence and prosecution now have all the evidence they need and therefore are ready to proceed to trial; or they still don't have all the evidence they need, and they requested a further delay. Which is it? Why not tell the people? British Columbians have a need and a right to know 1) what is the trial date; or, 2) if delayed, until what date? Unbelievably, we do not know at this point whether the Trial of the Century is on, or off, or sent to Syria via New York and Jordan. The entire B.C. Legislature remains under a cloud. We desperately need to clear the air. In a Theocracy or a Dictatorship, such things might happen. But not in a Parliamentary Democracy. Not in Canada. Surely not. . II. Some things did happen on 18 Sept. '06 CanWest editors decided that the trial of Basi, Virk and Basi isn't news. You saw the letter. If absolutely nothing happened in that B.C. Supreme court room on Sept 18, that's news. But something did. Bet your boots, some things did happen. After her initial response, I wrote a 2nd e.mail to Ms Chodan. Here it is, and this one upset her: Ms Chodan, Thank you, I am immensely grateful for the information in your reply. I sincerely believe that you would find many, many British Columbian readers of TC who feel a need to know what steps are being taken toward some resolution of the Basi, Virk affair. If, as RCMP Staff Sergeant John Ward said on 29 Dec. 2003, organized crime has reached critical mass in our province, and has found its way into all levels of society, then it's no small matter for the general public to come to grips with the serious nature of the charges against Basi, Virk, and Basi. Having found so little news coverage on such an important subject, I undertook to maintain a blog for this purpose (The Legislature Raids, at http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/ ). And I can say that there is scarcely a detail concerning this issue, including the pretrial appearance of Basi, Virk et al in BC Supreme Court yesterday, which would not be read and considered. Not a lot of hard news was expected from yesterday's pretrial hearing. But the very important basic questions were expected to be answered: was there agreement that both defense and prosecution have the documents they need? If so, are they ready to proceed to trial now? On 4 December? Or? It seems a great pity to me, that a reporter attended this latest hearing, but wasn't able to give the public those much-awaited scraps of information. Is it possible that your reporter could do so now? I would be most grateful, if so. Again, thank you for your response. BC Mary. Ms Chodan did apparently visit this blog and seemed angry that the news she had provided was allowed to be news. Possibly she was upset at having handed me the scoop on her own newspaper so that I was publishing news which she, as Editor-in-Chief of Victoria Times Colonist, had refused to publish. I am ordered not to show you her second message. She did not answer my question about allowing the reporter to fulfill his duties. So the people of British Columbia still do not know what was decided in that court room with a staff reporter right there, on duty, supposedly to keep the public informed. And so far as CanWest is concerned, that's where it ends. It demonstrates that CanWest understood that it's big news when Basi, Virk and Basi go into a B.C. courtroom. It demonstrates that CanWest itself is certainly interested when Basi, Virk and Basi go into a B.C. courtroom. It demonstrates that CanWest decides that they'll try to keep the public in the dark about The Trial of the Century. It wasn't a figment of imagination that there was news on 18 September in B.C. Supreme Court. The fact is: CanWest's Times Colonist decided to ignore it. They didn't just slip up or forget ... their editors met and decided to ignore it. Is that a free press serving the needs of a democratic society? http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on September 27, 2006]

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