Wet'suwet'en leader and pipeline opponents found guilty of criminal contempt of court

A prominent Wet'suwet'en leader and two pipeline opponents were found guilty of criminal contempt of court for breaking an injunction against impeding work on the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Michael Tammen read his decision to the court in Smithers on Friday.

The accused were Sleydo', also known as Molly Wickham, a Wing Chief of Cas Yikh, a house group 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, which straddles the Quebec, Ontario and New York state borders.

Tammen found the accused guilty of one charge each of criminal contempt of court for blocking access to Coastal GasLink pipeline construction in defiance of a court order. In December 2019, the B.C. Supreme Court granted Coastal GasLink an injunction barring protesters from impeding the construction.

All three pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial on Monday.

Sleydo' and Sampson were arrested in a cabin structure, referred to as the tiny house, on a Coastal GasLink work area along the Marten Forest Service Road, a spur road off the Morice Forest Service Road, Nov. 19, 2021.

"There was overwhelming evidence that breach of the court order was carried out in a public way," said Tammen, in regards to Sleydo' and Sampson's cases.

The evidence included social media videos where Sleydo' and Sampson make their intentions to stop the pipeline clear.

"One of their clear goals was to prevent the pipeline construction using tactics such as blockading roads and occupying work sites," said Tammen.

Tammen also pointed to evidence that the two were made aware of the injunction in September 2021 when they had attached themselves to heavy equipment in a work site. They were approached by a Coastal GasLink worker who read them a script of the injunction.

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Wet'suwet'en members and supporters on the Morice Forest Service Road Nov. 14, 2021. (Submitted by Layla Staats)

In Jocko's case, Tammen said he was made aware of the injunction order on Nov. 14, 2021 when a Coastal GasLink worker read a script of the injunction to Jocko and a group of people blocking a road.

Defence lawyer Frances Mohan had argued that during this interaction it was unclear if the worker sufficiently made the group aware of the injunction.

However, Tammen said he disagreed. In a video, the worker could be heard telling the group that they are impeding work on the pipeline, and asking them to move the blockade.

"It is clear that the officer alerted Mr. Jocko to the operative terms of the injunction," said Tammen.

Tammen said it is presumed the copy of the injunction left that day with the group was sufficient for Jocko to have known the terms of the order even if he chose to not read the document.

"Mr. Jocko either knew that his acts were in public defiance of the court order … or he was reckless as to that fact," said Tammen.

Sleydo', Sampson, and Jocko have filed abuse of process applications with the court on these charges, alleging the RCMP used excessive force when they were arrested and that they were treated unfairly while in custody.

Tammen will hear the applications before sentencing and the proceedings started after Tammen issued his decision Friday.