Latest news with #Sleydo
CBC
21-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Wet'suwet'en leader wants accountability from RCMP after judge finds Charter rights breached
A Wet'suwet'en leader who will have her sentence reduced after a judge found RCMP breached her Charter rights during her arrest at a pipeline blockade says it doesn't feel like justice was served. "I never believed that the colonial court system could provide justice for us," said Sleydo' (Molly Wickham), a wing chief of the Gidimt'en Clan of the Wet'suwet'en Nation. Sleydo' said Justice Michael Tammen's decision to find there was an abuse of process during police raids was a step in the right direction. Tammen found Sleydo', Shaylynn Sampson, a Gitxsan woman with Wet'suwet'en family ties and Corey Jocko, who is Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) from Akwesasne, guilty of criminal contempt of court last year for breaking an injunction against blocking work on the Coastal GasLink pipeline in November 2021. The three brought forward an abuse of process application alleging RCMP used excessive force during their arrests and that the group was treated unfairly while in custody. It asked the judge to stay the criminal contempt of court charges or to reduce their sentences based on their treatment by police. On Tuesday, Tammen decided some of the accused's Section 7 rights— life, liberty, and security of person — were breached during the police raid. As a result, he will reduce their sentences, when sentencing takes place in the coming months. "Nobody even really knows the extent of the harassment, violence and intimidation that we have experienced, and this is just the tip of the iceberg of what we have talked about in court," said Sleydo'. Sleydo said bringing forward the abuse of process application was important to try and bring accountability for the actions taken by the RCMP's Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG), which led the enforcement of the injunction. The RCMP said in a statement to CBC Indigenous that it acknowledges and respects the court's findings and is in the process of reviewing the decision. Federal Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said his office respects the outcome of the court's decision and will be looking at Tammen's decision in terms of the best way to proceed, to take any corrective measures internally. The B.C. Prosecution Service said it accepts the decision of the court and does not intend to file an appeal on the ruling. Defence lawyer Frances Mahon said Tammen's decision that there had been an abuse of process was "a pretty rare finding to get from a court." Tammen condemned comments made by several police officers on two different audio recordings comparing Sleydo' and Sampson to orcs for wearing red hand prints painted over their mouths — a symbol that represents missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. "My hope is that those RCMP officers will be ashamed of themselves and that there's going to be more education and discipline within the RCMP itself to ensure that this type of disrespect doesn't happen again, and particularly when people are in their custody after being arrested," said Mahon. Amnesty International statement Jocko said he doesn't feel like they have won or lost with sentencing still ahead. "We don't know what's going to happen yet, so super mixed emotions right now for me, personally," said Jocko. Amnesty International has announced that if the three are sentenced to jail or house arrest it will designate them as prisoners of conscience. The court had to put people in an overflow courtroom because there wasn't enough space for everyone who came to hear Tammen's decision being read Tuesday. "I feel like that is what the victory is to me, is the amount of community support that we have," said Sampson. Sampson said the court proceedings felt like an "important fight to have" even though she said she never felt like the court system would bring them a just outcome.
CBC
18-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Judge finds RCMP breached charter rights during arrests at Wet'suwet'en pipeline blockade
A B.C. judge says police breached the charter rights of three people arrested for blocking work on the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline, and they will receive a reduction in their sentences because of that. The abuse of process application was brought by Sleydo' (Molly Wickham), a wing chief of the Gidimt'en Clan of the Wet'suwet'en Nation, Shaylynn Sampson, a Gitxsan woman with Wet'suwet'en family ties and Corey Jocko, who is Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) from Akwesasne. Justice Michael Tammen found the three guilty last year of criminal contempt of court for breaking an injunction against blocking work on the pipeline back in November 2021. Tammen read his decision in B.C. Supreme Court in Smithers Tuesday after more than a year of court proceedings. The abuse of process application alleged RCMP used excessive force while arresting the accused in November 2021, and that the group was treated unfairly while in custody. It asked the judge to stay the criminal contempt of court charges or to reduce their sentences based on their treatment by police. Tammen said it would be inappropriate to stay court proceedings, but found that some of the accused's Section 7 rights— life, liberty, and security of person — were breached during the police raid. Tammen said these rights were breached when several police officers on two different audio recordings were captured comparing Sleydo' and Sampson to orcs and ogres for wearing red hand prints painted over their mouths — a symbol that represents missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. "I view the conduct as extremely serious involving racism directed towards Indigenous women, that is a group that has been systemically disadvantaged through all sectors of the criminal justice system for generations," said Tammen. Senior RCMP officers who gave evidence in the proceedings apologized for the behaviour of the officers, but Tammen said in his decision that he did not feel like these apologies were sufficient remedies for the prejudice and harm the comments caused. He said he would consider a reduction in sentence as a capable remedy for this. "The comments about the red face paint were not made by a single officer and were not a one-off occurrence," said Tammen. He said there were multiple offensive and discriminatory comments made by multiple officers on Nov. 18, 2021 and Nov. 19, 2021. RCMP's Community-Industry Response Group led the enforcement. "That is potentially a sign of systemic attitudinal issue within the C-IRG," he said, but Tammen said there was no evidence that this offensive behaviour was encouraged or condoned more broadly within the RCMP. Police needed warrants: judge During the accused's arrest on Nov. 19, Sleydo' and Sampson were located in a small structure, referred to as the tiny house. When police knocked on the door of the tiny house, Sleydo' said police needed a warrant to enter, but the RCMP breached the structure using a chainsaw, saying they could enter under the authority of the injunction. Police also breached a separate structure where Jocko was arrested, referred to as the cabin. During these arrests, the people inside this structure also said that police needed a warrant to enter. Tammen agreed in his decision that police did need a warrant to enter the structures. "The breaches that flowed from that failure [to obtain a warrant] were about as minor as could ever occur with warrantless arrests in a dwelling house," said Tammen. He said there was no doubt that the occupants of the structure would be arrested and the structures removed, even if the RCMP did obtain a warrant. Tammen said a stay in proceedings can only be granted in the clearest of cases, which he said this case is not. Tammen said the maximum sentence for criminal contempt is no more than five years imprisonment. The court will schedule sentencing at a later date.
