The two UNBC graduate students imprisoned in North Dakota last month have had some of their charges dropped.
Katriona Auerbach and Nicole Schafenacker were arrested while protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Dr. Sarah de Leeuw, Research Supervisor of the Northern Medical Program, says while the news is positive, they’re not out of the woods just yet.
“The significant criminal felony charge has been dropped, both of my students still face misdemeanour’s which do potentially carry prison sentences.”
Both students found out about the development while they on their way to North Dakota to face some of those charges.
They were expected to appear in court on December 5 but that has since been cancelled.
De Leeuw is of the belief American authorities had another motive when pressing the charges.
“The fact that the state and this sort of justice system is working in concert with each other to leverage huge criminal charges which are then subsequently dropped suggests their is a scare tactic involved here. As members of a civil democracy we all need to be a bit worried when I dare say it, bogus charges are are levied that carry with them up to five and seven year prison sentences. That is a huge stress to live with and both of them have been living with it for just over a month.”
To make things even more rushed, the recent developments pretty much came out of the blue. “They only learned about this en-route to North Dakota to face those charges and had a future court date to face those charges so they were already in Vancouver when they found out the felony had been dropped,” says de Leeuw.