BY NED DMYTRYSHYN
VANCOUVER, Canada - The Northwest Territories Court of Appeal ruled June 22 that the federal government of Canada should pay the legal costs of Roger Warren's attorneys, Glenn Orris and Gillian Boothroyd. Warren, a member of the Canadian Auto Workers Local 2304, is currently serving a life sentence at the Stony Mountain Institution in Manitoba on trumped-up charges of second degree murder. Orris said they would soon apply for bail for Warren.
Orris has already submitted an appeal stating that Warren's rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms were violated with police searches of his apartment; that the defense was refused the right to refer to certain statements elicited from Warren by the cops; that the refusal of the judge to allow testimony on the psychology of false confessions was an error, and that the judge erred in challenging Warren's credibility and in instructing the jury that his false confession was a true statement of incrimination.
Warren was convicted of the second degree murder of nine replacement workers killed in an explosion at Royal Oak's Giant Mine in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, in September of 1992. The blast occurred during a bitter 18- month strike against company union busting.
For 13 months after the explosion, hundreds of strikers, family members, and supporters were interrogated and harassed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The company used this cop "investigation" to wear down the strikers and undercut community support for their fight. One year after the blast, Royal Oak owner Margaret Witte announced that she would refuse to negotiate with the union until an arrest was made.
The centerpiece of the government's case was a false confession given by Warren one year after the blast. Despite the gaping irregularities in the false confession, and without any concrete evidence linking Warren to the blast, the judge basically instructed the jury to convict the miner.
Widows of the nine replacement workers who died in the explosion at Royal Oak Mines during the strike have named 14 new people, all unionists or union supporters, in a lawsuit claiming $34 million in damages.
"This is an attempt to smear the union as a whole," said Blaine Lisoway, coordinator of the Warren Defense Fund.
Ned Dmytryshyn is a member of International Association of Machinists Local 692 in Vancouver.