Canadian Honor Killing Trial: Shafia Trial Resumes After Bomb Scare Prompts Delay

From Sympatico.ca:

The Shafia family murder trial in Kingston, Ont. resumed Thursday afternoon with increased security after a bomb scare delayed proceedings earlier in the day.

Justice Robert Maranger told the jury to "expect the unexpected," which was greeted by laughs as they filed back in.

Spectators slowly made their way back into the courtroom for the trial after police implemented tight security procedures.

Maranger told the jury that the Crown would finish its closing arguments Thursday, and he would give his final instructions to the jury Friday.

Earlier Thursday, journalists and spectators who had lined up hours before court was scheduled to begin were suddenly told by police they had to leave.

Police would only say there was a "security concern," but a source told The Canadian Press that a bomb threat prompted the evacuation.

"I can neither confirm nor deny in regards to specifically a bomb, but we are just stating at this point in time it is a security concern," Const. Steve Koopman told The Canadian Press. "As you can see we're taking it extremely seriously."

Mohammad Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, have each pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder.

They were evacuated from the courthouse Thursday in a police prisoner vehicle.

Koopman couldn't say if the security threat was directly related to the Shafia trial.

The trio is accused of killing teenage Shafia daughters Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, as well as Shafia's first wife in his polygamous marriage.

The Crown began its final arguments on Wednesday and was expected to wrap up later today.

Three defence lawyers presented their final arguments Tuesday and Wednesday.

The bodies of the four were found in June 2009 in a car at the bottom of a canal in Kingston.

The Montreal family had stopped in Kingston on their way back from a trip to Niagara Falls, Ont.

The Crown has alleged that the girls were murdered by their father, his wife and their brother, and that the killing was then made to look like an accident after the fact.

The Crown's argument is built on the premise that the girls broke the family's moral code and dishonoured their family by wearing clothing that was not conservative and having secret boyfriends.

The defence, however, calls the argument preposterous and said the deaths were the result of a tragic accident.