Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters makes his way to question time at Parliament on March 6, in Wellington, New Zealand.Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
The New Zealand government says it’s not challenging Ottawa’s allegations that India was behind the killing of a Canadian Sikh separatist in the wake of remarks by that country’s Deputy Prime Minister to an Indian newspaper.
The Indian Express newspaper Wednesday reported comments from New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters on the matter. Mr. Peters, who is also his country’s Foreign Minister, spoke to the media outlet during a visit to India. “Where’s the evidence? Where’s the finding right here, right now? Well, there isn’t one,” Mr. Peters reportedly said.
Last September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the government of India of being behind the brazen shooting of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen – an allegation strongly denied by New Delhi that led to a deterioration in bilateral relations.
Mr. Peters was asked by the Indian Express whether Canada had shared information on the Nijjar slaying and whether New Zealand had conveyed its position to India. He replied by saying the matter was largely handled by the previous government. A new coalition government took power in New Zealand last November after elections in October.
“I wasn’t here, it was handled by the previous government,” Mr. Peters reportedly said. “But look, sometimes when you’re hearing Five Eyes information, you’re hearing it and saying nothing. It is coming past you. You don’t know the value or the quality of it, but you’re pleased to have it.” Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance that consists of Canada, the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
He continued: “You don’t know whether there is going to be substantial material value or nothing. But the very, very critical information that matters. This was mainly handled by the previous government.”
Then, however, Mr. Peters added this: “As a trained lawyer, I look okay, so where’s the case? Where’s the evidence? Where’s the finding right here, right now? Well, there isn’t one,” he said.
The New Zealand government, asked for comment, said Wellington is not challenging Canada’s allegations.
Asked whether Mr. Peters’s quotes were accurate, the government said it does not have a transcript.
“New Zealand’s position on the allegations remains unchanged – if they are proven correct, then that would be of serious concern,” John Tulloch, senior press secretary in Mr. Peters’s office, said in an e-mailed statement.
“The minister’s point is that this is an ongoing criminal investigation. It needs to run its course before clear conclusions can be drawn.”
A senior federal official told The Globe and Mail that New Zealand reached out to Ottawa Wednesday to say the Deputy Prime Minister’s comments were taken out of context and that the story doesn’t reflect its position. The Globe is not naming the official because they were not authorized to speak publicly about conversations with their New Zealand counterparts.
Canada’s allegations were buttressed after U.S. authorities announced in November that they had foiled a plan to kill a Canadian-American Sikh activist in New York and uncovered apparent links to the slaying of Mr. Nijjar and threats to three other unidentified Canadian Sikhs.
A criminal indictment unsealed in New York last year said that Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national who was arrested in the Czech Republic in June, allegedly arranged the murder for hire of U.S.-based Sikh activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel for the New York-based Sikhs for Justice.
Mr. Gupta allegedly told an undercover officer less than two weeks before Mr. Nijjar’s death that there was a “big target” in Canada. Mr. Gupta was allegedly recruited by an Indian government employee to “orchestrate the assassination” of Mr. Pannun.
A few days before Mr. Nijjar’s death in June, Mr. Gupta told the undercover officer – whom he thought was a criminal – that “we will be needing one good team in Canada” to carry out another assassination, according to the indictment. He also allegedly told the police officer that the plotters in India would be directing slayings in both countries.
Mr. Gupta allegedly later told the undercover officer that Mr. Nijjar was No. 4 or No. 3 among assassination targets in Canada and the United States.