Two Indigenous sisters who have been separated for nearly two decades for a crime they insist they did not commit were reunited Thursday in Yorkton, Sask., embracing on the grounds of the Crown Court.
In 1994, Odelia and Nerissa Kevezance were convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Anthony Dolph, a farmer from Kamsack, Sask.
They last saw each other nearly 18 years ago at the funeral of their late father.
“It’s been a long time,” Odelia, 51, said Thursday. “It’s quite sad that we had to accept this in order to be together, to see each other … they kept us apart.”
Later, as Odelia spoke in court, she began to cry.
“I haven’t seen her in 18 years, how can they do this?” she said.
“We are not bullies… we have big hearts.”
Odelia Quevezance, 51, stands on the steps where she and her sister were once convicted of a murder they say they did not commit. She remembered looking through some of the uppermost windows almost three decades ago. (Dane Patterson/CBC)
The sisters are from the Keeseekoose First Nation, located about 230 kilometers northeast of Regina. They claim they were wrongfully imprisoned for Dolph’s death for nearly 30 years, including time spent in custody before the convictions.
Thursday’s meeting took place outside the courthouse where they were sentenced for the first time.
The Quewezance sisters are seeking parole while they await a lengthy federal review of whether their case was a miscarriage of justice.
While the interim judicial review — to determine whether the sisters will be allowed certain freedoms while the federal review is underway — was scheduled for Thursday and Friday, it was replaced by a hearing to discuss whether new details from the hearing should be subject to publication ban.
The defense, CBC and APTN oppose the publication ban.
“Hopefully this is a start for everyone to start reaching out to us Indigenous people, especially Aboriginal women in prison.” A lot of my sisters are still suffering … still a lot of injustices,” Nerissa, 48, said during a break in the publication’s ban hearing.
She said seeing her sister was “surreal” and emotional. The two were allowed to eat with each other and with the family at lunchtime.
Odelia and Nerissa Kevezance embrace outside the courthouse in Yorkton, Sask., after nearly two decades of separation. Nerissa was accompanied by an RCMP officer. (Richard Agecoutay/CBC)
Arguments in court
The sisters sat together in court. Nerissa was shackled before Judge Donald Lay granted the defense’s request to remove the restraints while she was in the courtroom.
With Dolph’s family in attendance, prosecutor Kelly Kip argued that the publication ban on a bail hearing was not unusual and would maintain a fair trial in the future, if there is one as a result of the federal review.
A federal review can lead to an appeal or a new trial entirely, or a question of law being referred to the provincial court of appeal.
Kaip indirectly addressed the criticism leveled by advocates, saying the ban would not “silence” the media, but said the media was favorable to the sisters.
James Lockyer, a defense lawyer for the sisters, said potential “bias” by the media was not a reason to ban publicity from the trial, and cited examples of other wrongful convictions, such as the high-profile case of David Milgaard, and how media coverage was imperative in these cases.
He said he did not want the bail hearing application to be “shrouded in a publication ban” and that the sisters’ case was of “huge public interest”.
While the court considers the publication ban, a hearing to determine whether the sisters will be released on bail is expected to take place in January.
Judge Lay said he would announce his decision on the publication ban next week.
Support in and out of the courthouse
Chief Lee Ketchemonia of the Keeseekoose First Nation stood with family members of the sisters at the courthouse, advocating for their release.
Ketchemonia said it was shocking when the two sisters were initially charged and convicted in the 1990s.
“I have known them since we were children … as the head of our community I am here to come and help support the sisters,” he said before the hearing.
“Everyone in their family wants to see them released.”
Chief Lee Kechemonia, left, and Odelia, right. Ketchemonia said the sisters’ incarceration has been difficult for both friends and family in the community. (Dane Patterson/CBC)
Other advocates, including an Ontario senator and deputy chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, are among a chorus of voices saying the sisters are innocent and calling on the Saskatchewan government to support the sisters’ release on bail.
Early last week, Senator Kim Pate and Deputy Speaker Kim Bodine rejected the government’s request for a publication ban as part of an online news conference. Pate called it “absurd.”
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