#forestdefenders — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #forestdefenders, aggregated by home.social.
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CW: CW - Graphic descriptions of police abusing Native American activists
Abuse of process hearing for #Wetsuweten leader, blockade members to resume in June
The Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline would run from Dawson Creek to Kitimat, B.C., through traditional territory of the Wet'suwet'en
CBC
19 January 2024"An abuse of process hearing for three people found guilty of criminal #contempt of court for blocking work on the #CoastalGasLink #pipeline in November 2021 is being adjourned until June.
"Two weeks were scheduled this month in B.C. Supreme Court in Smithers for a trial and abuse of process application for #Sleydo', also known as #MollyWickham, a Wing Chief of #CasYikh, a house group of the #Gidimten Clan of the Wet'suwet'en Nation; #ShaylynnSampson, a #Gitxsan woman with Wet'suwet'en family ties and #CoreyJocko, who is Kanien'kehá:ka (#Mohawk) from #Akwesasne, which straddles the Quebec, Ontario and New York state borders.
"The accused were found guilty last Friday by Justice Michael Tammen of criminal contempt of court for breaking a 2019 injunction that impedes anyone from blocking work on the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
"Tammen then began hearing the abuse of process application that alleges #RCMP used excessive force when they were arrested and that they were treated unfairly while in custody.
"The filing asks if the judge doesn't stay their charges, then it would be appropriate to reduce their sentences based on their treatment by police.
"Several RCMP witnesses have testified so far about the two-day raid in November 2021 enforcing the injunction.
"Const. Mark Freeman and Cpl. Colin Warwick, who were in charge of police dogs on scene, testified on Friday.
"They told the court that the dogs were there to look for people who may be hiding in the area or detect possible booby traps, but they found no people or booby traps.
"During two days of testimony earlier this week, Supt. James Elliott spoke about factors that played a role in deciding the resources used to enforce the injunction.
"Elliott said he was considering information about half-cut trees along the side of the forest service road that had potential to fall, a social media post that indicated weapons were hidden under the snow in the area, the possibility of booby traps along the road and use of the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) warrior flag, that police thought indicated heightened #activism.
"Several other police witnesses also mentioned the potential for booby traps but no one said any were found.
"During cross-examination of the RCMP witnesses, defence lawyer Frances Mahon told the court the social media post was referring to the #Haudenosaunee great law of peace, in which five warring nations bury their weapons under a pine tree to unite.
"Mahon also played audio recordings in which officers can be heard referring to people being arrested as 'orcs' and 'ogre.' In another recording, RCMP officers can be heard laughing about an officer beating a person being arrested and grabbing and twisting their testicles.
"When the hearing resumes, the defence is expected to call several witnesses, including the three accused.
"The hearing is expected to resume in Smithers June 17-21."
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/abuse-process-hearing-wetsuweten-leader-215317616.html
#ACAB #SLAPPs #IndigenousActivism
#BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism
#IndigenousLandDefenders
#LandBack #2023PublicOrderAct #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent
#WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors
#ForestDefenders
#ClimateActivists
#ClimateJustice
#EcoActivists #HumanRightsViolations
#Article20 #RightToProtest -
#Wetsuweten Law Cannot ‘Coexist’ with BC Court Order, Judge Determines
Chief Dsta’hyl has been found guilty of criminal contempt.by Amanda Follett Hosgood, #TheTyee
21 Feb 2024
"Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders have opposed #pipeline construction through their traditional territory since before the #CoastalGasLink pipeline project was first proposed. In December 2018, the B.C. Supreme Court issued an interim injunction to the company, which prohibited anyone from blocking pipeline access roads or work sites. A year later, on Dec. 31, 2019, the court granted a permanent injunction for the duration of the project.
[...]
"Last month, Tammen determined there was sufficient evidence to convict three #Indigenous #LandDefenders — Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, Shaylynn Sampson and Corey Jocko. They were arrested the day after Dennis and later charged with criminal #contempt. Hearings have begun into an application by the defence to stay the charges based on police conduct during the arrests.
"#ChiefDstahyl’s arrest took place in October 2021, after a series of interactions with Coastal GasLink workers and security contractors on the Shea Forest Service Road on Likhts’amisyu Clan territory.
"During those interactions, Dsta’hyl and others blocked access to a work camp and 'seized and rendered inoperable' multiple pieces of machinery belonging to Coastal GasLink contractors by cutting electrical wires and removing batteries, according to evidence presented during the trial.
"When Dsta’hyl was arrested, he had four batteries from heavy machinery in the back of his pickup truck, the judge said.
"'There is little dispute concerning the basic facts,' Tammen said, noting that video evidence documenting the incidents was presented during the trial.
"'Chief Dsta’hyl, acting as an enforcement officer for the Likhts’amisyu Clan, participated in the decommissioning of a piece of heavy equipment owned by a CGL subcontractor on Oct. 17, 2021. That action consisted of removing the battery from the equipment, an excavator, thus rendering it inoperable.'
"Witnesses for the defence included other #Likhtsamisyu Chiefs, who described the Wet’suwet’en traditional clan system and its role in governing the traditional territory. Among the Chiefs’ duties is preservation and protection of the traditional territory, or #yintah, Tammen said.
"Tammen also summarized the Wet’suwet’en law of trespass, something described in detail by defence witnesses, saying permission is required to access territory belonging to a house group 'beyond just passing through it.'
[...]
"Criminal contempt penalties can include fines or imprisonment. Sentencing has been set for 9 a.m. on March 6."
https://thetyee.ca/News/2024/02/21/Wetsuweten-Law-Cannot-Coexist-BC-Court-Order/
#SLAPPs #IndigenousActivism #BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousLandDefenders #LandBack #2023PublicOrderAct #DirectAction #ACAB #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #EcoActivists #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch
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Gantry climber, #CressieGethin 22, found guilty
Court & Prison, Press / February 19, 2024
#JustStopOil supporter and gantry climber, Cressie Gethin, has been found guilty. Cressie took action in July 2022, demanding the UK government immediately halts all licensing and consents for new fossil fuel exploration and extraction.
The trial began on the 5th February at Isleworth Crown Court, with Judge Duncan presiding. The jury has found Cressie guilty by a majority of ten to two. Cressie, 22, a music student from Hereford, will be sentenced on the 3rd of May with two others. They face a possible ten year custodial sentence. [2]
During the trial Cressie was prevented from talking about her reasons for taking action and was denied any legal defence by the judge. The court heard a witness testimony from acclaimed naturalist and television presenter, Chris Packham, who commented that those taking action like Cressie “should be commended for sounding a vital alarm”. He added: “I am attending court to support Cressie Gethin because I don’t think she is getting a fair trial. I think, along with the UN, that the UK’s protest laws and sentencing of protesters are unjust, draconian, and in conflict with our basic human rights.”
Cressie climbed a motorway gantry above the M25 on the 20th July 2022, two days after the governments’ net zero strategy was declared unlawful, and one day after the UK recorded its highest ever temperature of 40.3 degrees celsius, a milestone that scientists previously thought was impossible. 61,000 excess deaths were recorded across Europe as a result of the extreme heat that summer, whilst the UK government continued to licence new oil and gas. [5]
Speaking before the action in 2022, Cressie said:
“I am terrified by the extreme heat in the UK this week, knowing that this will only get worse as we continue to extract and burn more and more fossil fuels. This country has the technology and money to begin a just and rapid transition to renewable energy immediately, but our government refuses to do so. I feel it is my duty as a human being to demand change in a way that cannot be ignored.
Thousands of people will die this week as a result of the extreme temperatures we are experiencing in the UK. We are in this situation because of increasing global temperatures caused by the emissions from burning fossil fuels. Against this backdrop, the UK government plans to open new oil and gas fields. I am dumbfounded by their negligence.
I am thinking of the countless people across the country and abroad who are now experiencing illness and death as a result of the climate crisis. People are angry that our government is continuing down the path of destruction, and we will not simply stand by and let this happen.”
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson commented:
“It would be extremely convenient for everyone if the climate crisis could be removed from our lives by the ruling of a Judge. If we could imprison the wildfires, if we could arrest famines, or if we could legislate against the rising sea waters that will leave parts of Britain submerged, that would be a fantastic outcome – but the reality is that we can’t and rapid decarbonisation is the only way of preventing these horrifying outcomes.
However, the judiciary – like the police – is proving to be an effective arm of the oil and gas industry, by silencing and imprisoning members of the public taking nonviolent action against climate collapse. Future generations will be disgusted by rulings such as this.”
As the world passes tipping points that threaten the breakdown of ordered civilization, world leaders, captured by the interests of oil lobbyists and big business, are failing to protect our communities. British citizens are sick of being led by liars and crooks. Until we stop Tory oil, supporters of Just Stop Oil will continue taking proportionate action to demand necessary change. Sign up for action at juststopoil.org.
https://juststopoil.org/2024/02/19/gantry-climber-cressie-gethin-22-found-guilty/
#SLAPPs #2023PublicOrderAct #DirectAction #ACAB #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterIsLife #BigOilAndGas #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #ClimateActivists
#ClimateJustice #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch -
#GretaThunberg cleared after unlawful protest arrest
2nd February 2024, 01:49 EST
"Greta Thunberg and four co-defendants have been found not guilty of breaking the law when they refused to follow police instructions to move on during a #ClimateProtest.
"District Judge John Law threw out a public order charge due to 'no evidence' of any offence being committed adding police attempted to impose 'unlawful' conditions.
"The 21-year-old was arrested at a #ClimateCrisis demonstration near the InterContinental Hotel in Mayfair on 17 October.
"The judge said that the conditions imposed on protesters were 'so unclear that it is unlawful'.
"He added that it meant that 'anyone failing to comply were actually committing no offence'."
Read more:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68180317#DirectAction #ACAB #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent
#WaterIsLife
#WaterProtectors
#ForestDefenders
#ClimateActivists
#ClimateJustice
#CorporateColonialism
#EcoActivists
#Censorship
#HumanRightsViolations
#Article20
#RightToProtest
#SlowMarch #BigOilAndGas #SLAPPs #2023PublicOrderAct -
Mexico: defender of monarch butterflies found dead two weeks after he vanished
- Homero Gómez González was found floating in a well
- Activists say death could be over illegal logging disputesby David Agren
Thu 30 Jan 2020A #Mexican #environmental #activist who fought to protect the wintering grounds of the monarch #butterfly has been found dead in the western state of Michoacán, two weeks after he disappeared.
“#HomeroGómezGonzález, a former logger who managed #ElRosarioButterflyReserve, vanished on 13 January. His body was found floating in a well on Wednesday, reportedly showing signs of torture.
“The motive for his murder remains unknown, but some activists speculated that it could have been related to disputes over illegal #logging.
“Last week, authorities called in 53 police officers from the surrounding municipalities for questioning.
“Gómez González’s death comes as the murder rate continues to surge in a country where environmental defenders, human rights workers and community activists are routinely targeted for their work.
“President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promised to halt attacks on environmental defenders, but the killings continue.
“‘This is a very regrettable act, very painful,' López Obrador said at his morning press conference on Thursday. 'It’s part of what makes us apply ourselves more to guarantee peace and tranquility in the country.'
“According to Global Witness 14 defenders were murdered in Mexico in 2018.
“Gómez González grew up in #ElRosario, a hamlet in the hills of western Michoacán, where monarch butterflies winter amid dense forests of fir and pine trees.
“Millions of the butterflies make a 2,000-mile (3,220km) journey each year from Canada to pass the winter in central Mexico’s warmer weather. But the forests and the monarchs are threatened by climate change and the incursion of illegal loggers and #AvocadoFarmers.
“A gentle man with a salt-and-pepper hair and thick mustache, Gómez González was born into a logging family according to a profile in the Washington Post.
“‘We were afraid that if we had to stop logging, it would send us all into poverty,' he told the newspaper.“But he eventually convinced others to abandon logging and protect butterfly habitats instead, figuring tourism would replace the lost income. The sanctuary is now a #UnescoWorldHeritageSite and federal law outlaws logging in the site.
“#GómezGonzález often posted mesmerising videos of fluttering monarchs to social media.
“In one of his last videos, shared on Twitter a day before his disappearance, Homero Gómez González stood amid a cloud of butterflies. 'Come and and see this marvel of nature! [The #butterflies] are lovers of the sun, the souls of the dead,' he said, referring to #IndigenousLegends about the migratory butterflies.
“Speaking to the AP, #HomeroAridjis, an environmentalist and poet who is a longtime defender of the butterfly reserve, said: 'If they can kidnap and kill the people who work for the reserves, who is going to defend the environment in Mexico?’”
#ForestDefenders #JusticeForHomero
#CriminalizingDissent #DefendTheForest #IndigenousRights #MonarchButterflies #Extinction #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice
#SilencingDissent
#CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #ACAB -
The right to #protest is under threat in #Britain, undermining a pillar of democracy
By JILL LAWLESS
December 26, 2023LONDON (AP) — "For holding a sign outside a courthouse reminding jurors of their right to acquit defendants, a retiree faces up to two years in prison. For hanging a banner reading '#JustStopOil' off a bridge, an engineer got a three-year prison sentence. Just for walking slowly down the street, scores of people have been arrested.
"They are among hundreds of #environmental activists arrested for peaceful demonstrations in the U.K., where tough new laws restrict the right to protest.
"The Conservative government says the laws prevent extremist activists from hurting the economy and disrupting daily life. Critics say #CivilRights are being eroded without enough scrutiny from lawmakers or protection by the courts. They say the sweeping arrests of peaceful #demonstrators, along with government officials labeling #EnvironmentalActivists #extremists, mark a worrying departure for a liberal democracy.
"'Legitimate protest is part of what makes any country a safe and civilized place to live',' said Jonathon Porritt, an #ecologist and former director of #FriendsOfTheEarth, who joined a vigil outside London’s Central Criminal Court to protest the treatment of demonstrators.
"'The government has made its intent very clear, which is basically to suppress what is legitimate, lawful protest and to use every conceivable mechanism at their disposal to do that.'"
#DigitalFreeSpeech #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch #BigOilAndGas #SLAPPs #AbolishTheMonarchy #2023PublicOrderAct
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i want to share a couple of revamped WW2 political posters under #CreativeCommons #NonCommercialUse to aid #protest of #CopCity
learn more on my patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/no-cop-city-803932052/
#usPolitics #antifa #StopCopCity #acab #atlanta #WeelauneeForest #ForestDefenders #DefendAtlantaForest #Tortuguita #ManuelTerán