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The BC Prosecutor’s Office has charged criminal insults against four more protesters allegedly opposed to an injunction passed in 2018 to protect the construction of a liquefied natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia. rice field.
A decision by prosecutor Tyler Baumann at the British Columbia Supreme Court on July 7 brought the total number of people charged with criminal insults for their role in blocking access to the coastal gaslink pipeline.
The prosecutor charged another 15 people on June 1. Prosecutors said it would take another four weeks to decide whether to prosecute another 10 protesters for criminal insults related to the blockade and actions they opposed last fall. Told the court’s Margaret Church.Pipeline, report CBC..
A total of 27 people were arrested during the six days from September 2021 to November 2021, two of whom decided not to prosecute for evidence reasons.
Among the four who learned about their charges on July 7th Sleydo’Molly WickhamA member of the Gidimt’en clan of Wet’suwet’en Nation and a spokesperson Tyee report.
When completed, the 670-kilometer pipeline will transport natural gas from Dawson Creek in northeastern British Columbia to Kitimat on the Pacific coast. Almost all routes have been cleared and almost one third of the pipeline is already installed.
The pipeline is backed by 20 First Nation governments elected along the route, including elected governments from Wet’suwet’en Nation and Haisla Nation. However, protests against the pipeline spread to other parts of the country in early 2020, often opposed by the genetic chiefs and environmental activists of the wet “sweat” who set the block on the railroad.
December 2018, CoastalGasLink Temporary injunction Published by the church, it gives employees secure access to and construction of the project. However, according to the company, the move has not prevented “many violations” of injunctions “from individuals who have escalated destructive and dangerous behavior” since then. press release July 7.
Members of the Gidimt’en clan responded to the injunction by setting up an occupation 44 km below the Morice Forest Service Road, which provides access to the pipeline.
and Arbitrage In connection with the provisional injunction, Church said Wickham was a strong opponent of the pipeline project.
“Molly Wickham, one of the individuals who equates with the KM44 blockade, has issued a public statement stating that the occupation of the land is aimed at prevention. [Coastal GasLink] From getting permits and approvals and completing the work necessary to eventually prevent the pipeline project from being built, “she wrote in a January 2020 ruling.
of FebruaryAccording to the RCMP, about 20 protesters, some armed with axes, attacked Coastal GasLink guards and broke vehicle windows.
During a court appearance on July 7, there were five other protesters who learned that they would not face criminal charges in their arrest on November 19, 2021. Injunction to them that day.
“The script read by the RCMP was limited to road blockages and did not contain the broader wording of the injunction. This is the court’s decision Teal Cedar Products Ltd.v. At the Rainforest Flying Squad, “Bauman said.
“Defendants’ actions did not include blocking the road, even if they otherwise violated the injunction.”
Baumann said the five were unlikely to be charged with criminal insults, but Coastal GasLink could consider filing a civil suit against them.
The next court appearance is scheduled for July 28, and Coastal GasLink can decide whether to file a proceeding against them. For the four who knew their charges, then the crown would announce their judgment.
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Isaac Teo is a Toronto-based Epoch Times reporter.
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