The
first of the trials associated with the smuggling of Chinese
migrants into Canada last summer began Wednesday in Victoria.
It involves the Korean crew of
the second migrant ship that dumped its passengers on a tiny island
off the Queen Charlotte Islands and then tried to flee.
The case has been preceded by almost three months of complex
legal wrangling and a confrontation between the judge and the
Immigration Department.
But the jury has finally heard the opening arguments.
The Crown is alleging this is a clear cut case of human
smuggling. Prosecutor Peter Laprarie says the Korean's decrepit ship
was tracked by military aircraft as it approached the Queen
Charlottes last August and left 131 Chinese men, women and children
on a tiny island in Gilbert Bay.
It was cold and wet. Some of the migrants suffered from
hypothermia and had to be airlifted to hospital.
The Korean ship tried to flee , said the Crown, but was turned
around by Canadian ships and aircraft, and then arrested.
The jury was told they'll see videotape of the wretched
conditions inside the ship and they'll hear from many of the
migrants on board.
The Koreans are facing a total of five charges, and if found
guilty could face lengthy jail terms and fines.
The pre-trial motions have already taken up 55 days and provoked
an unusual tug-of-war between the judge and the Immigration
Department over whether the Koreans should be released from jail.
Justice Ron McKinnon has also raised the issue of racial
prejudice by questioning jurors on whether having Asians of Korean
nationality, accused of smuggling Chinese, would affect their
impartiality.
The Koreans, who are pleading not guilty, will decide whether to
present a defence after the Crown rests its case.