Court Releases Great-Grandmom Forest Protester

by Neville Judd

Betty Krawczyk PHOTO: GREENPEACE

Betty Krawczyk has been imprisoned since September 15, 2000 after British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Glen Parrett found her guilty of criminal contempt of court.

The previous September, Krawczyk had defied a court injunction by blockading a logging road into the upper Elaho Valley, 105 miles north of Vancouver near the world class ski resort Whistler Mountain. She was protesting logging by International Forest Products (Interfor) of an area that includes Douglas firs and western red cedars over 1,000 years old.

Parrett added to the severity of the unprecedented sentence by stipulating that Krawczyk should receive no time off for good behavior. The judge said Krawczyk's repeated defiance of court injunctions deserved a harsher sentence.

On January 25, the B.C. Court of Appeal ordered Krawczyk's release, saying her continued incarceration could lower public respect for the courts.

"The sentence was clearly unfit," said Appeal Court justice Ian Donald in his reasons for judgment. "A term of one year was well outside the range of comparable cases."

Outside the courthouse, Krawczyk was unrepentant. "Peaceful protest on a logging road is considered more heinous than actual criminal activity such as the Hell's Angels dealing drugs because drug dealers don't challenge corporate values," she said. "When I stood on that logging road it affirmed human values over the profit motive and that's considered far more dangerous by corporations and governments."

Greenpeace forest campaigner Catherine Stewart praised the judgment. "Today's unconditional discharge finally vindicates Betty's belief that she has the right to defend the environment for her grandchildren and great grandchildren," she said.

"Neither Betty nor the majority of the world community consider her actions criminal. Still, she was prepared to pay the price for standing up for her beliefs," said Stewart.

While the Louisiana native served her sentence, more than 10,000 letters were emailed to B.C. Premier Ujjal Dosanjh and 7,000 to Interfor, demanding her release and protection of the forest she was jailed trying to protect.

This red cedar, 11 feet wide and estimated to be over 1,000 years old, was felled by Interfor in the upper Elaho Valley last year PHOTO: Western Canada Wilderness Committee

B.C. Provincial Court Justice Ellen Burdett called the attack premeditated and carried out with Interfor's "tacit corporate approval." But none were placed behind bars. All five received suspended sentences with one year probation. Four were advised to seek anger management courses.

"The plight of the ancient forests of British Columbia is no better served by jailing forestry workers than by jailing grandmothers," said Stewart.

"The real crimes are being perpetrated behind boardroom doors and fueled by government complacency. We can only hope the court's decision today is the first step towards real change in attitudes towards forestry issues in B.C," she said.

The conservation group Western Canada Wilderness Committee spent two years researching and mapping the Elaho Valley, building the Douglas Fir Loop trail. The trail falls within Interfor's logging cutblocks. The Vancouver-based group has long campaigned for the Elaho Valley to be protected as part of a national park reserve, to be known as the Stoltmann Wilderness.