THE BATTLEFORDS - A group of high profile advocates for the wrongfully convicted are holding a free Facebook live event in an effort to free two First Nations women they believe were wrongfully convicted of murder.
Ron Dalton from Innocence Canada, Senator Kim Pate, David Milgaard, advocate for wrongfully convicted, Nicole Porter, advocate for Indigenous Rights and wrongfully convicted, and Kim Beaudin National Vice Chief for the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples are participating in the live streaming event on Friday.
Odelia Quewezance is a special guest. Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance were sentenced to life in prison on second-degree murder charges in 1994 for the death of Anthony Joseph Dolff of Kamsack.
The sisters have maintained their innocence for almost 30 years. In May, Odelia held an eagle feather and proclaimed her innocence during a zoom media conference.
“I didn’t murder (Dolff). I’m holding an eagle feather when I talk,” she said, adding that when you hold an eagle feather you have to speak the truth because the eagle feather represents honesty in First Nations’ culture.
Odelia is currently in a healing lodge and Nerissa is in custody on B.C.’s lower mainland.
Kim Beaudin, National Vice-Chief from the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP) has been calling on the federal government to intervene and release the sisters. Beaudin said there is a lack of physical evidence against the sisters, and a young offender admitted he was the one responsible for the murder in 1993.
Odelia said she believes they were treated unfairly from day one because they were Indigenous women living in Saskatchewan.
In May Senator Kim Pate said she was stunned the sisters haven’t been exonerated, adding that there needs to be an immediate review of their convictions.
To join the free live-streaming event Free Odelia & Nerissa Quewezance - A Nation Wide Plea hosted by N.A. Porter and Associates at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on Aug. 6 please go to https://fb.me/e/1zngKg4DR
