Flowers should be moved from HMP, or released from custody
Press Release
July 26, 2017
Nunatsiavut President Johannes Lampe says he’s appalled that another Labrador Inuit woman is being detained at a maximum security prison for men because she refused to obey a court injunction to stay away from the Muskrat Falls site.
Marjorie Flowers, along with two members of the NunatuKavut Community Council, Jim Learning and Eldred Davis, were held in Happy Valley-Goose Bay on July 21 and subsequently sent to Her Majesty’s Penitentiary in St. John’s. The three are members of the Labrador Land Protectors.
“To have a woman incarcerated at a men’s prison is shameful and disrespectful, and will do very little in advancing reconciliation and renewing the nation-to-nation relationship between the Government of
Newfoundland and Labrador and the province’s Indigenous peoples,” says President Lampe.
The President outlined his concerns over the treatment of those protesting the Muskrat Falls project in a letter to Premier Dwight Ball this week.
“As an Indigenous person, and as a Canadian citizen, (Ms. Flowers) maintains that she is not breaking any laws, but merely taking a stand against a project she feels will have devastating impacts on her culture, health and way of life,” states the letter to the Premier. “You may not be able to interfere with the justice system, but you can certainly show some leadership and voice your concerns with respect to this unjust situation.”
Ms. Flowers is the second Labrador Inuit woman to be detained at HMP for refusing to obey an injunction against protesting near the Muskrat Falls site. Beatrice Hunter spent 10 days at the facility last month.
“As I stated when Ms. Hunter was being held at HMP, the Premier and Justice Minister Andrew Parsons should be ashamed of what has transpired here,” says President Lampe. “Ms. Flowers should be moved from HMP to a more appropriate facility. If no such facility is available, then she should be released.”
Letter to Premier Ball 24 July 2017
Media Contact:
Bert Pomeroy
Director of Communications 709 896-8582
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