Green Party deputy leader released pending appeal of jail sentence for Fairy Creek protests

Angela Davidson, also known as Rainbow Eyes, was convicted earlier this year of seven counts of criminal contempt for breaching a court injunction blocking protesters from disrupting logging activities in the Fairy Creek watershed. (Green Party of Canada)

British Columbia's highest court has ordered the Green Party of Canada's deputy leader to be released from custody pending her appeal of a 60-day jail sentence for her role in old-growth logging protests on Vancouver Island.

Angela Davidson, also known as Rainbow Eyes, was convicted earlier this year of seven counts of criminal contempt for breaching a court injunction blocking protesters from disrupting logging activities in the Fairy Creek watershed.

Davidson, who was named the deputy leader of the federal Green Party in February, was arrested the first time at Fairy Creek in May 2021 for breaching the inunction granted to timber company Teal Cedar Products.

She was subsequently arrested six more times in 2021 and 2022, including for breaching her bail conditions, when she returned to the old-growth logging blockade near Port Renfrew, on southwestern Vancouver Island.

The deputy leader was sentenced on April 24 to spend 60 days in jail, less 12 days for time already served.

Davidson filed an appeal of her sentence two days later, and was ordered released on bail Monday pending the appeal hearing, according to the B.C. Appeal Court and the B.C. Prosecution Service.

A spokesperson for the court said the Crown did not oppose granting Davidson leave for appeal, nor did it oppose granting her release from custody pending the appeal hearing.

Davidson issued a statement Monday, saying her efforts to "braid the laws" of the Crown and Indigenous communities will continue.

"We are in a time of reconciliation and action, raising awareness about our collective history and duties in the face of the ecological and humanitarian crises in our world," the statement said.

Bill Jones, an elder of the Pacheedaht First Nation in Port Renfrew, testified at Davidson's trial that he invited her and others to come to the area to defend the old-growth forests from logging.

"Rainbow Eyes was and is faithful to that cause and continues to show strength and dedication in her resolve in the protection of our great mother’s gift to us," Jones said in a statement.

Davidson had been incarcerated at the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women in Maple Ridge, B.C., since her sentencing last week.

Under the terms of her release, Davidson must surrender to authorities on Nov. 25 unless an appeal hearing date has been set by that time, in which case she must surrender into custody on the day the appeal judgment is delivered, according to the prosecution service.