Court Support Rally - Wednesday, May 3

May 3, 2023

Please arrive at 8:30 for the support rally
Court begins at 10:00 for all-day appeal proceedings

Where: BC Court of Appeal, 800 Smithe Street, Vancouver

Join Indigenous land defenders Jim Leyden, Stacy Gallagher, and Tawahum Bige for prayer and a rally at 8:30am on May 3 in front of the courthouse at Nelson and Hornby Streets. There may be limited seating available for the appeal hearing, but please show your support in the streets for these courageous land defenders!

Background:
Indigenous land defenders Jim Leyden, Stacy Gallagher, and Tawahum Bige were arrested in August 2018 while upholding their sacred responsibilities of prayer, smudging, singing and dancing for Mother Earth at Westridge Marine Terminal of the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project (TMX). The three land defenders were convicted of criminal contempt in October 2019, and each sentenced to a month in jail in October 2020.

All three land defenders are appealing their sentences, and will be heard Wednesday, May 3 by a three-judge panel of the BC Court of Appeal.

Jim Leyden and Stacy Gallagher were subsequently targeted by TMX and the Crown and charged again in January 2020 with criminal contempt. Jim and Stacy were both accused of breaching the TMX injunction in December 2019, and Stacy was charged with additionally breaching the injunction in November 2019.

In March 2021, Stacy was again convicted and sentenced to an additional 90 days in jail, a sentence that he will also be appealing on May 3.

In June 2021, Jim was again convicted and sentenced to an additional 45 days in jail. Jim will be appealing his second conviction and sentence at a BC Court of Appeal hearing later this year.

Please share and amplify!
Facebook event link here.

Date: 
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 - 08:30