New trial date set for accused human smuggler after jury unable to reach verdict

VANCOUVER — A new trial date has been set for a Sri Lankan man accused of smuggling hundreds of Tamil migrants to Canada aboard a decrepit cargo ship.

Kunarobinson Christhurajah will face trial again in B.C. Supreme Court starting in May, three months after a jury failed to reach a verdict in his case.

He was charged alongside another Sri Lankan and two Canadians of masterminding the voyage of the MV Sun Sea, which carried 492 asylum seekers to British Columbia’s coast in the summer of  2010.

The jury acquitted the three other men, but couldn’t reach a decision on Christhurajah’s case.

He is accused of owning the ship that brought the migrants from Thailand to British Columbia.

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At trial, the court heard that he was an asylum seeker who travelled on the Sun Sea with his wife and other several other members of his family.

Christhurajah was granted bail last month after spending more than six years in jail.

The Canadian Press