The sentencing of three land defenders criminalized by Canada sends a chilling message about the threats facing people and Nations on the front lines of the struggle for Indigenous rights and environmental justice.
On Friday, a British Columbia judge handed down sentences for three Indigenous land defenders who were arrested in November 2021 during a heavily militarized Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) raid on the unceded ancestral territory of the Wet’suwet’en Nation. Sleydo’ (Molly Wickham), a Wing Chief (Cas Yikh or Grizzly Bear House) of the Gidimt’en Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, Shaylynn Sampson, a Gitxsan with Wet’suwet’en family connections, and Corey “Jayohcee” Jocko, a Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) from Akwesasne, were later charged and convicted for allegedly breaching a B.C. court injunction that banned land defence actions near the construction of the Coastal GasLink (CGL) liquefied natural gas pipeline.
Each of the land defenders’ sentences include jail time: 17 days in jail for Sleydo’, 12 for Jocko, and nine for Sampson. However, the judge suspended the implementation of those sentences and ordered the defenders to complete 150 hours of community service rather than serve time behind bars. In explaining his decision to suspend the defenders’ jail sentences, the judge said he took into account the Province of British Columbia’s and the Government of Canada’s disrespect for the rights and interests of the Wet’suwet’en Nation.
“While we are relieved that Sleydo’, Shaylynn and Corey were allowed to walk free, the application of jail sentences – suspended or not – sends a chilling message to land defenders who act to protect Indigenous rights and territory in the face of destructive mega-projects,” said Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International. “These courageous defenders should never have been arrested in the first place for exercising their rights and defending the natural environment we all depend on. Canada must stop criminalizing Wet’suwet’en and other Indigenous defenders amid a global climate emergency.”
Amnesty International has documented the human rights violations experienced by Wet’suwet’en land defenders and their allies, including Sleydo’, Sampson and Jocko, since 2020. Amnesty International’s research has found that the injunction order that led to their arrest unduly restricts the human rights of the land defenders and the Indigenous rights of the Wet’suwet’en Nation. The arrests, prosecutions and sentencing of the land defenders therefore constitute serious violations of their rights.
Land defenders’ rights infringed during heavily militarized police raid on Wet’suwet’en territory
In February 2025, the B.C. Supreme Court found that Sleydo’, Sampson and Jocko’s rights had been infringed during their arrests. In response to an abuse-of-process claim filed by the defenders’ legal team, the Court ruled that the conduct, including anti-Indigenous racist statements, of some RCMP members during the November 2021 raid violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, the judge declined to stay all charges against the defenders.
“In our law, the land defenders who were on trial would have been rewarded for their actions, but under Canadian law, they face punishment,” said Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks. “The land defenders did exactly what they were supposed to do to uphold ‘Anuk niwh’it’en [Wet’suwet’en law]. They followed our law and our way of life. Our law stands for “land, air, water.” Their law stands for punishment. We are slowly getting them to recognize our process, and while it’s taken us years to get to this point, this is a huge shift. Do I applaud their law? Absolutely not. But we are making a difference.”
“Sleydo’, Shaylynn and Corey have been convicted for peacefully protecting Wet’suwet’en territory against the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline – something they should never have been prosecuted for in the first place,” said Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada’s English-speaking section. “Even though the Court recognized that they were subjected to racist and violent treatment during their arrests, the three defenders find themselves being punished. Unfortunately, the systemic racism that led to their arrests remains unaddressed. The governments of B.C. and Canada have denied the Wet’suwet’en their right to free, prior, and informed consent, violated their freedom of movement across their ancestral lands, and threatened their traditional way of life. These ongoing injustices are painful reminders of Canada’s enduring legacy of colonial violence against Indigenous Peoples.”
If Sleydo’, Sampson and Jocko had been sentenced to jail time or house arrest, Amnesty International would have declared them prisoners of conscience. It would have been only the second time Amnesty had applied that designation to a person or group held by Canada.
In July 2024, the organization declared another Wet’suwet’en land defender – Likhts’amisyu Clan Wing Chief Dsta’hyl – a prisoner of conscience after the B.C. Supreme Court sentenced him to 60 days of house arrest. Like Sleydo’, Sampson and Jocko, Chief Dsta’hyl was charged and later convicted for allegedly violating the terms of the B.C. court injunction banning land defence actions near the CGL pipeline, including in areas of the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s territory.
“Indigenous Peoples are on the front lines of climate change and will face disproportionate harms if humanity fails to move on from burning fossil fuels,” said France-Isabelle Langlois, Executive Director of Amnistie internationale Canada francophone. “States must hold up, not lock up, Indigenous land defenders like Sleydo’, Shaylynn and Corey, and follow their lead towards a healthier, more sustainable future for all. B.C. and Canada must take immediate steps to end the criminalization of Indigenous land defenders. No one should be intimidated, harassed, or arrested, let alone convicted in a criminal court case, for exercising their constitutionally protected rights and defending the natural environment we all share.”
The Wet’suwet’en Nation’s fight against the CGL pipeline continues as Canada, B.C. and the international business consortium behind the pipeline advance Phase II of the project. Aimed at doubling the output of the LNG export facility in Kitimat, B.C., CGL Phase II would involve the construction of seven new compressor stations along the pipeline route, including two on Wet’suwet’en Territory – again without the free, prior and informed consent of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs.
Additional information
Amnesty International’s 2023 report ‘Removed from our land for defending it’: Criminalization, Intimidation and Harassment of Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders details the violations committed inflicted upon members of the Wet’suwet’en Nation by Canadian and B.C. authorities, CGL Pipeline Ltd., TC Energy, and Forsythe Security. Over 75 people have been arbitrarily arrested by the RCMP in four large-scale raids on Wet’suwet’en territory.
In June and July 2022, the B.C. Prosecution Service (BCPS) decided to charge 20 land defenders with criminal contempt for allegedly disobeying the injunction order to stay away from pipeline construction sites. Several went on trial in 2023 and 2024. In November 2023, land defender Sabina Dennis was found not guilty of criminal contempt. In February 2024, Likhts’amisyu Clan Wing Chief Dsta’hyl was found guilty of criminal contempt for violating the terms of the injunction order. He was sentenced to 60 days’ house arrest which he served in July and August 2024.
Amnesty International continues to call on the Government of British Columbia to end the criminalization of Wet’suwet’en and other Indigenous land defenders and opposes the expansion of all fossil fuel pipelines and related infrastructure.
