Canadian Police Arrest 47 Anti-Pipeline Activists for Blocking Ports - Statements

TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th February, 2020) Police in the Canadian province of British Columbia said they arrested 47 anti-pipeline activists for blocking ports in the Vancouver area.

Monday marked the fifth day of blockades of Vancouver-area ports by activists standing in solidarity with protesters in northern British Columbia who are trying to prevent a gas pipeline project from destroying indigenous land.

"On Monday morning, police were compelled to act on a BC [British Columbia] Supreme Court order, in response to a request from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, to restore access to the Vancouver ports," the Vancouver Police Department said in a press release. "A number of protesters refused to abide by the court order. So far, 33 arrests have been made."

Meanwhile, city of Delta Police in a statement said that they made 14 arrests of those involved with blocking ports.

Protesters are supporting Wet'suwet'en land defenders and hereditary chiefs who are facing eviction from protest campsites in northern British Columbia where activists have been challenging the construction of the proposed Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline.

For the past five days protesters across Canada have blocked railways, highways, and staged sit-ins as part of the Wet'suwet'en Strong campaign to bring attention to the eviction of the First Nation from their ancestral lands.

Last week, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in pre-dawn raids arrested six of the protesters blocking the Coastal GasLink pipeline. On Friday, Wet'suwet'en Nation Hereditary Chief Na'Moks, who also goes by John Ridsdale, told Sputnik that the police raid violated both Federal and international law.