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.