Three of four men charged in the June 18, 2023 shooting death of Surrey gurdwara president Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, appeared in person in red prison garb in a high-security courtroom in Surrey provincial court Tuesday, May 21 while the fourth appeared remotely from Ontario, where he is being held.

Judge Emmet Duncan set their next court appearance for June 25 after Crown prosecutor Marcel Daigle explained the adjournment 乌鸦传媒渋s to allow Crown to comply with its disclosure obligations.乌鸦传媒�

Nijjar was shot to death in the parking lot of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Newton. He was found in his truck suffering from gunshot wounds.

Duncan reaffirmed a court order made by Judge Mark Jette on May 15 that the four are not to have contact with three members of Nijjar乌鸦传媒檚 family and four other people. Jette had also made a mandatory detention order under Section 515 (11) of the Criminal Code, with the help of a Punjabi interpreter.

Amandeep Singh, 22, Karan Brar, 22, Kamalpreet Singh, 22, and Karanpreet Singh, 28, are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Amandeep Singh appeared remotely while the other three accused appeared in person.

Amandeep Singh had to make his first 乌鸦传媒渁ppearance乌鸦传媒� in Surrey provincial court on May 15 by telephone from Ontario. When he was arrested by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) on May 11, he was already in custody at the time for unrelated firearm charges out of Peel Regional Police in Ontario. 乌鸦传媒淏ecause of technical incompatibility between our court and courts in Ontario, Mr. Singh is not able to appear by video,乌鸦传媒� Jette noted.

乌鸦传媒淪pecifically I乌鸦传媒檓 told that the Ontario court system uses a different messaging system than we do and they乌鸦传媒檙e not able to communicate with each other.乌鸦传媒�

While B.C. uses Microsoft Teams, Ontario uses Zoom.

Bhupinder Singh Hothi, general secretary of Surrey's Guru Nanak Gurdwara, outside Surrey provincial court Wednesday following 1st court appearance of 4th murder suspect in Nijjar shooting.

乌鸦传媒� Tom Zytaruk (@tomzytaruk)

On May 7, demonstrators gathered outside of Surrey provincial court while Karan Brar, Karanpreet Singh and Kamalpreet Singh made their first court appearance virtually by video. Community members outside came with flags and signs, with some reciting religious chants quietly under their breaths as they hoped to learn more about how the Crown乌鸦传媒檚 case will unfold.

May 15 saw a second round of this.

Bhupinder Singh Hothi, general secretary of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, said outside the courthouse that it乌鸦传媒檚 the group乌鸦传媒檚 intention to attend every court appearance.

乌鸦传媒淲e are all ready to attend all the hearings that will be held in this case,乌鸦传媒� he said.

乌鸦传媒淏ecause it is our leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, that got murdered and you know the cause he got murdered for, for raising his voice for the own Khalistan,乌鸦传媒� Hothi said. 乌鸦传媒淪o he was our leader of that moment so that乌鸦传媒檚 why we all agree that we should be here at all appearances.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淵ou cannot erase the voice of Khalistan, there is no fear, such fear,乌鸦传媒� he added.

Hothi also spoke outside the courthouse May 21 amid a crowd of supporters bearing signs with slogans.

He accused the suspects of being 乌鸦传媒渇oot soldiers乌鸦传媒� of the Indian government and maintains the federal government needs to arrest more people.

Moninder Singh, of the BC Gurdwara Council, was next to speak. Asked by the Now-Leader what it was like to be so close in court to those accused of murdering Nijjar, he replied that 乌鸦传媒渇or anyone that乌鸦传媒檚 here, seeing them on TV or seeing them in person, I think it draws out a bit of emotion. We need to actually get the trial underway, we need to get a conviction and we need to get a sentencing, that乌鸦传媒檚 how the community feels right now.乌鸦传媒�

Seeing them in person, he said, 乌鸦传媒渋s a reminder for us乌鸦传媒� that the accused 乌鸦传媒渨ere used by India乌鸦传媒� and more 乌鸦传媒渨ill come tomorrow or next year.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 really more up to what we can do in Canada to ensure that India is held accountable at the highest levels,乌鸦传媒� he added. 乌鸦传媒淎ll of that has to be kind of brought into the public sphere. So seeing them, while it draws out emotion over the loss that we suffered as a community, it also provides a galvanizing moment for the community to kind of focus back on India. This trial will take its course, but India is still out there and we乌鸦传媒檙e pretty sure that this isn乌鸦传媒檛 over on their behalf either.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淯ntil this comes to a conclusion,乌鸦传媒� he told reporters, 乌鸦传媒淚 think people will be shaken, but again they乌鸦传媒檙e very committed to getting justice for Hardeep Singh, ensuring that the Khalistan movement that he was fighting for is pushed forward.

乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e just at the beginning of the proceedings right now,乌鸦传媒� Moninder Singh said. 乌鸦传媒淲e know these things take time.

乌鸦传媒淲hile we乌鸦传媒檙e OK with the way that the proceedings are going so far but we don乌鸦传媒檛 want this to kind of stretch on for years.乌鸦传媒�