Stand with Wet'suwet'en Land Defenders!
Support Wet'suwet'en Court Challenge! Stop the Criminalization of Land Defenders!
Land
defenders (left to right) Shay lynn Sampson, Corey Jocko
"Jayohcee" and
Sleydo' Molly Wickham outside Smithers courthouse during the
first week of
the trial, January 8-12, 2024.
An important hearing on Indigenous land defenders' application for a stay of criminal contempt charges due to RCMP violation of their rights during raids on two camps on Wet'suwet'en territory in November of 2021 began January 15 in a Smithers, BC courtroom.[1]
The hearing of the application for stay follows the conviction of three land defenders -- Sleydo' Molly Wickham, Shay lynn Sampson and Corey Jocko "Jayohcee" -- of criminal contempt on January 12. Following the guilty verdict, on January 15, the trial moved into hearing the defendants' application for a judicial stay of proceedings based on their claim that the RCMP used excessive force and other Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms violations, a process that was expected to take a week.
On January 22, Gidimt'en Checkpoint reported on Facebook the court proceedings from January 15 to 19:
"Last week's proceeding of Sleydo' Molly Wickham, Shay lynn Sampson, and Corey Jocko 'Jayohcee''s trial addressed the defendants' abuse of process applications. The application is based on the defendants' experience of widespread Charter violations stemming from the RCMP's disproportionate and excessive use of force.
"The court heard audio recordings taken after the RCMP's raid on Coyote Camp and Gidimt'en Checkpoint on November 18-19, 2021. The recordings caught officers referencing 'gassing' people in the tiny home, referring to a man as an 'ogre' and laughing about how multiple officers 'beat the shit out of him,' and referring to Indigenous women as 'orcs' for wearing red paint symbolizing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Another audio recording revealed an officer saying 'Here's Johnny,' comparing the scene from The Shining to the officers' use of axes to break into the cabins. RCMP Superintendent Elliott agreed that the recordings were not in accordance with his mission to comply with the Charter and called the officers' behaviour 'unprofessional and unacceptable.'
"Testimony confirmed that Emergency Response Team (ERT) members armed with rifles and canine units -- but without warrants or negotiators -- barged into tiny homes where land defenders stood, with their arms up."
The judge determined that more time was needed to hear the case, at least one and possibly two more weeks. The hearing has been scheduled to continue June 17-21 with additional dates to be determined, and will hear testimony from Sleydo', Sampson and Jocko as well as more RCMP officers.
The
current case arises from a November 2021 RCMP raid of two camps
established on Wet'suwet'en territory to block access by Coastal
GasLink (CGL), which is building a pipeline without the consent
of the
Wet'suwet'en Hereditary chiefs and in violation of Wet'suwet'en
rights
and title. Twenty-seven
people were arrested at Gidimt'en Checkpoint and Coyote Camp and
charged with civil contempt for violating an injunction issued to
CGL
by BC Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church in 2019. Subsequent
to
the civil contempt charges the BC Prosecution Service, at the
invitation of Justice Church,
charged 19 of those arrested with the more serious offence of
criminal
contempt. Justice Church said: "It is clear from the evidence
before me that there is an important public interest in fostering
a
respect for the rule of law. The conduct alleged is defiant of
the rule
of law, and such
conduct depreciates the authority of the court."
The land defenders' application to the BC Supreme Court for a stay of the criminal contempt charges was filed in February 2023. A press release issued at the time highlights the RCMP's "disproportionate and excessive use of force" against peaceful land defenders and quotes Sleydo': "Society is rightly concerned with how a special unit of RCMP (C-IRG) acts with impunity, using racist language and violence against unarmed Indigenous women. Now it's in the court's hands to decide if this is acceptable in 2023."
The applications allege that arrestees were denied their right to security of person, subjected to unreasonable search and seizure, arbitrarily detained and imprisoned, and denied reasonable bail without just cause. Court documents say: "The RCMP/C-IRG's enforcement tactics impaired the Applicant's individual Charter rights, but the police misconduct also displays a systemic disregard for Indigenous rights and sovereignty and the Charter more generally."
A lawsuit for damages, wrongful arrest, wrongful detention and violation of Charter rights has also been launched by The Narwhal over the arrest of their journalist, Amber Bracken. Bracken was arrested with another journalist, Michael Toledano, in the November 2021 raids.
Since its establishment in 2017 by the RCMP in BC as a special force to protect the interests of industry against protests by Indigenous Peoples and others, the C-IRG has faced lawsuits and hundreds of individual complaints to the RCMP's Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC), alleging excessive force, illegal tactics, unprofessional behaviour, racism, discrimination and various Charter violations.
TML condemns the ongoing state attacks on the Wet'suwet'en and Indigenous land defenders across Canada and wholeheartedly supports the court challenge to the criminal contempt charges. The courage and persistence of Wet'suwet'en land defenders and the justness of their cause deserves the broadest possible support. To contribute to the Wet'suwet'en Yintah Defence Fund click here.
This article was published
in
Volume 54 Numbers 1-2 - January - February
2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/M5400120.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca