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Elderly Anti-logging Protester Stays in Jail

Canada.com

 May 22, 2003

Betty Krawczyk, a 74-year-old great grandmother and militant environmentalist, will remain in jail for at least another three weeks because she refused to sign an RCMP document promising not to block loggers in the Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island

VANCOUVER (CP) -- No charges have been laid but militant environmentalist Betty Krawczyk will remain in jail for at least another three weeks.

In an emotional statement to B.C. Supreme Court Thursday, the 74-year-old great grandmother refused to sign an RCMP undertaking promising not to block loggers in the Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island.

"I don't think this court has ever heard the complaints of the people of British Columbia," Krawczyk, who represented herself, told Justice Patrick Dohm.

"The way our forests are being trashed ... the court colludes in that."

Her statements, including calling the B.C. Liberal government barbaric and elitist, earned applause from the public gallery, but Dohm only said "ma'am, I've heard you."

Dohm ordered Krawczyk held until June 16, when it's expected the Crown will have a decision on charges that she may have violated an injunction against blocking the logging road in question.

Krawczyk told Dohm she wants a jury trial and plans to launch a Charter of Rights challenge against the injunction.

Lawyer Cameron Ward said he's concerned about Krawczyk being kept in jail without a charge, saying it runs counter to established criminal law practice.

Krawczyk has been a thorn in the side of B.C. forest companies for years, a familiar face at logging blockades.

She has spent nearly a year's worth of time in custody for violating injunctions against interfering with logging operations.

Joe Foy of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee said it's clear environmentalists are treated differently from other citizens.

"We have a premier who's charged with drunken driving, never spent a moment in prison," he said outside court. "We've now got a litany of environmentalists who've been treated like this.

"There's no other group in society treated like this. Betty is in the can because she's trying to stop the privatization of the public forests."

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell was arrested in Hawaii for drunken driving last January and spent the night in a Maui police cell. He later pleaded no-contest to several charges and was fined.    


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