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No charges for pipeline protesters who hung beneath B.C. bridge

Demonstration was intended to stop oil tankers from leaving the Trans Mountain pipeline terminal in Burnaby, in the middle of a busy summer of protests against the Kinder Morgan project.
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A dozen protesters will not be seeing the inside of a courtroom for their role in a summer pipeline demonstration that stopped tanker traffic in the Lower Mainland for just more than a day.

Back in July, 12 protesters formed an aerial blockade along the bottom of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge in Vancouver.

READ MORE: B.C. grandma, 70, gets 7 days in jail for pipeline protest

The demonstration was intended to stop oil tankers from leaving the Trans Mountain pipeline terminal in Burnaby, in the middle of a busy summer of protests against the Kinder Morgan project in the region.

All 12 were arrested 36 hours later.

Dan McLaughlin, spokesperson with BC Prosecution Service, told Black Press Media, Tuesday, that based on the police-submitted report to Crown Counsel, the charge assessment standard was not met for any of the activists.

“As a result no charges have been approved. The individuals involved were notified through counsel of the decision last week,” McLaughlin said in an email statement.

READ MORE: B.C. RCMP dismantle Kinder Morgan protest camp

WATCH: ‘New wave’ of anti-pipeline protests return to Trans Mountain facility

He added that the prosecution service has to apply a two-part test to determine whether criminal charges will be approved and a prosecution initiated, including that there must be a substantial likelihood of conviction based on the evidence gathered by the investigating agency and that a prosecution must be required in the public interest.

Faris Iskander, one of the dozen demonstrators involved, said in a statement the group is “glad to hear the news” that the charges were not approved.

READ MORE: Albertan activist says he’ll come to B.C. and evict pipeline protesters himself

READ MORE: Elizabeth May, other anti-pipeline protesters to be criminally charged

Since the summer’s protests, which included more than 200 people being arrested for demonstrations at the entrance to the Burnaby terminal, 15 people have served jail time.


@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca

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