No decision yet on star witness in Basi-Virk case

The judge in the political corruption trial of two former B.C. Liberal ministerial aides will rule June 4 on a disclosure application by the defence that focuses on the Crown's star witness.

Lawyers for David Basi and Bob Virk—who are charged with fraud and breach of trust in connection with the sale of B.C. Rail—say the Crown hasn't given them the material they need to defend their clients.

At the top of the defence list of concerns is thedeal they say the Crown had with star witness Eric Bornman, a former lobbyist in Victoria.

Michael Bolton, representing Basi, said Bornman admittedgiving money to the accused in connection with the B.C. Rail deal. And hewants to know why Bornman is off the hook while Basi and Virk are not.

"It's one or the other," said Bolton."He either did something wrong or he didn't do something wrong. If he didn't do something wrong, then our clients are not guilty."

He wants to put Bornman, his lawyer and the special prosecutor on the stand to answer questions about the agreement Bornman reached with authorities.

The Crown says there is no immunity deal with Bornman because he breached an earlier agreement.

Allegations of 'dirty tricks'

The defence lawyersare also inferring political interference in the police investigation of their clients.

Bolton said the RCMP were going to recommend charges against Basi forallegedpolitical "dirty tricks."

But that idea was dropped following a meeting with B.C. Liberal Party executive director Kelly Reichert, who informed Premier Gordon Campbell, say police.

It reeks of political interference, said Basi's lawyer, who wonders why RCMP were consulting with the Liberals.

"One of the criteria that became an issue was whether the Liberal party would be embarrassed by those charges," said Bolton, adding it's one of the issues the defence is interested in pursuing.

The Crown says the dirty tricks charges were never pursued because they wouldn't have produced a criminal conviction.