The BC Parole Board hearing has rejected Ts'peten Defender OJ Pitawanakwat's the February 26th application for parole. In turning down the accelerated parole request, the board cited insufficient personal information concerning Mr. Pitawanakwat. However it noted the many letters of support received on Mr. Pitawanakwat's behalf and expressed a "greater appreciation" of the circumstances surrounding Gustafsen Lake as a result.

While disappointed in the hearings results, elder Bill Lightbown of the Ts'peten Defence Committee, who attended the hearing and was permitted to address the BC board, said that members thanked him for his submissions. "I think they learned some things they didn't know before," said Lightbown. The board invited Pitawanakwat to reapply again this summer, when it would reconsider this refusal.

Write to OJ:

James "OJ" Pitawanakwat
Political Prisoner
c/o Mission Institution
P.O. Box 60, Mission, BC V2V 4L8 Canada

Elder Bill Lightbown
Spokesperson, Ts'peten Defence Committee
Phone/Fax: (604) 251-4949 Vancouver