VANCOUVER -- Two spokespeople for Extinction Rebellion Vancouver have been fined, and one arrested by CN police over anti-pipeline action, according to the group.
In a news release, the group says spokesperson Zain Haq was arrested Monday by CN police for “alleged criminal contempt of court relating to an anti-pipeline Indigenous solidarity action on Nov. 27.”
On that day, Extinction Rebellion organized a series of protests in Metro Vancouver. Demonstrators rallied near Burlington Avenue and Government Street in Burnaby, then walked to the rail line that runs parallel to the pipeline route. At the time, the group said the action was “in solidarity with pipeline opponents from the Wet'suwet'en and Secwepemc nations.”
The group says Haq’s arrest on Monday happened while he was at an Indigenous-led ceremony near CRAB Park in Vancouver, claiming a group of CN police arrived specifically to find him.
The group also says fines were served to both Haq and another spokesperson, Maayan Kreitzman, for, “alleged infractions of the Railway Safety Act at an earlier action on Nov. 17.”
On that day, Extinction Rebellion organized another blockade across a railway line that runs parallel to the Trans Mountain expansion route, again in Burnaby.
“These retroactive punitive measures represent an escalation of tactics on the part of police against peaceful demonstrators," the release says.
CTV News has reached out to CN Rail, the company declined to comment.
