Email Marco Mendicino, Canada's Minister of Public Safety
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Please protect press freedom
Dear Minister Mendicino, On Nov. 19, award-winning photojournalist Amber Bracken was arrested by the RCMP while on assignment for The Narwhal on Wet’suwet’en territory in northwest B.C. Amber — along with freelance filmmaker Michael Toledano — was held in jail for three nights before being released on the condition that she'll appear in court on Feb. 14, 2022. These arrests mark just the latest in a long string of illegal RCMP actions against journalists — journalists who play an essential role in bearing witness in a democracy and have a charter right to report from within injunction zones. The RCMP have repeatedly acted well beyond the law when dealing with journalists, in defiance of court rulings. Just a few months ago a group of media organizations took the RCMP to court over their conduct at the Fairy Creek blockades on Vancouver Island. In two scathing written rulings, B.C. Supreme Court’s Justice Douglas Thompson determined the vast exclusion zones and media restrictions set up by RCMP officers were unlawful and “seriously and substantially” impacted important liberties. Justice Thompson ultimately refused to extend the injunction at Fairy Creek, stating the way the RCMP continued to violate charter rights when enforcing the injunction was causing a “depreciation” of the court’s reputation. The RCMP needs to be held accountable for their repeated violations of the rights of the Canadian journalists. I'm asking you to exercise your oversight responsibility, investigate these arrests and to correct these serious violations of press freedoms moving forward.
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