Two men have been sentenced for the killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik. José Lopez, 26, was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for 20 years by the British Columbia Supreme Court. His lawyer said he felt sorry for what happened.
The judge, Terence Schultes, agreed that the sentence was fair, noting it was an appropriate outcome for the crime. Lopez and another man, Tanner Fox, 24, both faced second-degree murder charges. Fox was sentenced similarly earlier this year.
Despite requests from Malik’s family, both men have not revealed who paid them to commit the crime. Prosecutors said that Lopez and Fox shot Malik multiple times in a planned killing and that they were paid for it.
Malik was a well-known figure because he was accused in the Kanishka bombing in 1985, which killed 329 people, the worst act of terrorism in Canada. He was acquitted due to a lack of evidence.
In 2022, Malik publicly distanced himself from the Khalistan movement and even praised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had a known dispute with Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another pro-Khalistani figure who was killed just a few weeks before Malik.
Malik was killed on July 14, 2022, while sitting in his car at his business in Surrey. Police are still investigating to find out who hired Lopez and Fox. Both were arrested just days after the murder, with police confirming Malik was a targeted victim.
Some groups, like Sikhs for Justice, believe that the Indian government was involved in Malik’s killing, similar to what happened in Nijjar’s case. This claim has also been echoed by Canadian leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
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