In jail since Friday, photojournalist Amber Bracken and documentary filmmaker Michael Toledano were released on a promise to appear and to meet conditions after their trial on Monday in Prince George, British Columbia. The Narwhal, who employs Amber Bracken, is considering legal action against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The award-winning journalist was arrested by the RCMP while covering a demonstration against a pipeline project in the north of the province. 15 people were arrested for violating an injunction prohibiting the blocking of access to a road used by Coastal GasLink workers. In late September, members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation established a resistance camp on a project site.
Michael Toledano, a documentary filmmaker and freelance journalist, was also arrested on Friday. These two arrests were strongly denounced by several.
According to news site The Narwhal, the two are due to appear again in February. They must respect the peace and comply with the injunction obtained by Coastal GasLink.
Amber Bracken has been charged with contempt of the injunction, says Carol Linnitt, co-founder of The Narwhal, who hopes the charges will be dropped. “What is very frustrating is that Amber, as a journalist, was not bound by this injunction. We continue to argue that she was, wrongly, identified as a demonstrator and that this does not apply to her, ”she says, in an interview with The duty.
“The Narwhal is very interested in considering legal remedies in the future in response to Amber’s arrest,” she adds.
The president of the Canadian Association of Journalists (ACJ) denounces excessive behavior on the part of the police. “It is clearly an outrage on the part of the RCMP, which wants to silence journalists and prevent them from reporting the facts in a fair and just manner about their activities,” he said to the To have to.
The association sent a letter signed by several major media in the country to the Minister of Public Security, Marco Mendicino, asking him to intervene. “We need more transparency and accountability on the part of the RCMP,” he said.