Accused passenger from diverted Aeroflot flight tries to plead guilty

An Armenian man whose alleged behaviour on board an Moscow-bound flight forced it to divert to Iqaluit in November is headed to trial despite an attempt to plead guilty.

Sisak Khudaverdyan, 36, was charged after an Aeroflot flight from Los Angeles to Moscow was forced to land in Iqaluit Nov. 25.

• Unruly passenger forces L.A.-Moscow flight to land in Iqaluit

On Thursday in an Iqaluit courtroom, Khudaverdyan, bypassing his lawyer, pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of people on board an aircraft in flight by interfering with the duties of the crew. The charge is under Canada's Aeronautics Act.

The plea was part of a deal with Crown prosecutors, which would have seen his two criminal code charges – for endangering the safety of an aircraft and mischief – dropped.

But while entering his plea, Khudaverdyan went off-script.

"If you want to make me guilty, then I am guilty. But I'm a sick person. I didn't do anything intentionally," Khudaverdyan said, through an interpreter.

Justice Bonnie Tulloch had to reject the guilty plea, because the crime requires intent, which Khudaverdyan had just denied. She entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

"I'm begging you to give me a chance, as soon as possible, to be sent back home where I need help or a psychiatrist," Khudaverdyan then added.

Fit to stand trial

Khudaverdyan is back at the Baffin Correctional Centre in Iqaluit after spending 60 days in Ontario for a psychiatric assessment. The assessment deemed him fit to stand trial, "in the strict definition of that term," his lawyer, Tamara Fairchild, said.

The earliest available trial date isn't until May, the court heard, and Crown prosecutors will need time to subpoena witnesses from the flight, most of whom likely aren't in Canada.

Canada Border Services Agency staff have been in court for all of the proceedings, waiting to detain Khudaverdyan as soon as his matter is resolved to send him to Armenia or to the United States, according to Crown prosecutors.

Denied medication

Before the proceedings began Khudaverdyan, through his lawyer, said he wasn't receiving his medication [not related to his mental health] while being held at the Baffin Correctional Centre.

"I confirmed there was an issue with the medication with the guards at [the Baffin Correctional Centre] when I was there, and it seems that it's a funding issue," Fairchild told the court.

The Government of Nunavut's Justice Department, which oversees corrections, wouldn't comment on the allegations, but in a statement said "inmates are provided, at no charge, all medications deemed medically necessary by a physician."

Still, Tulloch ordered that Khudaverdyan be assessed at the hospital and given whatever medication he needs.

He will be back in court Feb. 14 to set a trial date.