Three of four men accused of bringing hundreds of Tamil migrants into Canada illegally have been found not guilty by a jury in B.C. Supreme Court according to Vancouver Sun.

Justice William Ehrcke declared a mistrial for the fourth man after a jury told the court it couldn’t reach a verdict in the case of Kunarobinson Christhurajah.

Lesly Emmanuel, Nadarajah Mahendran and Thampeernayagam Rajaratnam were acquitted by the jury.

The jury began its deliberations on Thursday. On Wednesday told the judge they were collectively exhausted and couldn’t reach a verdict.

“The jury has made a great deal of progress over the last week. However, consensus continues to elude us on some key points,” they told the judge in a note. “You will be unsurprised to discover that these are the most difficult and emotional points to discuss.”

Ehrcke told jury members to go back and determine if they could reach any verdicts, and if they couldn’t he would declare a mistrial. They returned minutes later with the three not guilty verdicts.

The Crown declined comment outside court.

The MV Sun Sea travelled from Thailand to Canada in the summer of 2010 carrying 492 Sri Lankan Tamils who intended to claim refugee status.

Christhurajah and Emmanuel are Sri Lankan nationals, while Mahendran and Rajaratnam are Canadian citizens.

The court heard how the cargo ship, which was considered unseaworthy in the open ocean, crossed the Pacific without the assistance of a formal crew.

During the trial, lawyers for Christhurajah, Emmanuel and Rajaratnam argued their clients acted for humanitarian reasons, either to assist their family members or to help fellow asylum seekers.

Emmanuel’s lawyer said his client bought a ticket intending to be a passenger on the vessel. It was only after the Thai crew abandoned the ship that Emmanuel was pressured into taking over as captain because of his maritime experience, his lawyer said.

Christhurajah was an asylum seeker and travelled on the Sun Sea with his wife, while Rajaratnam’s mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law and two cousins were on board, the court heard.

Mahendran and Rajaratnam were in Canada at the time of the ocean crossing in 2010, but the Crown argued both had travelled to Thailand earlier to help arrange the voyage.

Mahendran’s lawyer told the court his client was a victim of misidentification. He said the witness testimony condemning him was collected by the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency in a “deeply flawed” manner that broke “almost every single rule” designed to prevent wrongful conviction.

He said those mistakes included leaving identifying numbers on pictures used in a photo lineup, allowing migrants to discuss the pictures and officers giving supportive feedback, such as saying “good job.”

In a 2015 judgment linked to the MV Sun Sea, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the country’s human smuggling laws were too broad, and that people could not be found guilty for acting on humanitarian grounds, helping family members or assisting fellow migrants.

A chronology of events in the case of the MV Sun Sea:

July 16, 2010: Canada watches for a ship alleged to be carrying illegal Tamil migrants after a Sri Lankan newspaper warned the vessel could be headed for British Columbia.

Aug. 11, 2010: The cargo ship believed to be carrying hundreds of Tamils from Sri Lanka continues sailing toward the British Columbia coast, crossing into an economic zone that extends 370 kilometres from Canada’s shores.

Aug. 13, 2010: The Canadian navy intercepts the cargo ship MV Sun Sea carrying 492 people and escorts it to CFB Esquimalt, near Victoria.

Aug. 15, 2010: The RCMP says one of the Tamil migrants on the freighter died just weeks before the ship arrived off B.C. The Mounties say a 37-year-old man died about three weeks earlier after getting sick on board the vessel, with no way to treat his illness.

Aug. 19, 2010: Five migrants, all women, participate in an Immigration and Refugee Board hearing in Vancouver.

Aug. 26, 2010: Shepherd Moss, a lawyer for some of the 492 Tamils, suggests federal agencies are trying to drag out the identity checks on the migrants, thereby keeping them in jail longer.

Sept. 13, 2010: A pregnant woman who arrived aboard the MV Sun Sea is the first of the migrants to be ordered released from detention.

Oct. 19, 2010: Prime Minister Stephen Harper says legislation will be introduced in the House of Commons aimed at tightening immigration law to deter human smuggling and encourage would-be migrants to follow proper channels. He said the “growing problem of mass arrivals through human smuggling … calls into question the most basic obligation of a sovereign country — to control its own borders.”

Oct. 21, 2010: Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says some of the Tamil migrants who arrived in British Columbia waters were already denied refugee status from the United Kingdom.

Feb. 21, 2011: Harper is in B.C. promoting his government’s immigration platform at a time when speculation is rife that there could be a spring election.

March 24, 2011: The last of 63 female passengers on board the Sun Sea is ordered released from detention by the Immigration and Refugee Board. Forty-four of the men on board are still in detention.

April 29, 2011: Marc Tessler, an adjudicator with the Immigration and Refugee Board, says the federal government’s definition of which migrants aboard the MV Sun Sea are members of the Tamil Tigers is so broad that, if it was accepted, ongoing hearings to determine membership in the terrorist group would be meaningless.

Nov. 27, 2015: The Supreme Court of Canada says those who are steering a ship, acting as a lookout or cooking meals cannot automatically be branded as human smugglers. The high court effectively ruled that acts of humanitarian assistance or aid between family members do not amount to people smuggling under Canada’s immigration law.

Oct. 19, 2016: A trial begins in the case of two Canadians and two Sri Lankans who have pleaded not guilty to organizing or assisting the 2010 voyage of MV Sun Sea. Kunarobinson Christhurajah, Lesly Emmanuel, Nadarajah Mahendran and Thampeernayagam Rajaratnam are each charged with violating the Immigrant and Refugee Protection Act by organizing, inducing, aiding or abetting the illegal entry of 10 or more people into Canada.

Jan. 17, 2017: A British Columbia Supreme Court judge instructs the jury in the case to be “very cautious” about relying on eyewitness evidence to find guilt in the case of the four men. Justice William Ehrcke noted that the jury had heard evidence from witnesses that on more than one occasion, they were shown photographs by the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency and asked if they could identify anyone pictured. He says problems with the photo lineup raised by defence lawyers are a “serious concern.” The Crown tells the jury the RCMP had to adapt to a “rather unusual situation” when they investigated the arrival of a dilapidated vessel.

Jan. 19, 2017: The jury in the case begins its deliberations.

Jan. 25, 2017: The jury finds Emmanuel, Mahendran and Rajaratnam not guilty. Ehrcke declares a mistrial for Christhurajah after the jury told the court it couldn’t reach a verdict in his case.