Activist Wolverine released from jail in Kamloops

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Jones William Ignace, also known as Wolverine, was released from custody on Feb. 4 and is back home on his farm near Chase.

He was originally scheduled to walk out the front door of the Elbow Lake Correctional facility near Mission upon his release, but correctional officials decided at the last moment to release the 66-year-old in Kamloops.

Ignace has been in custody since 1995. He was imprisoned for his role in the Gustafsen Lake confrontation.

Ignace's supporters say his release was transferred to Kamloops to disrupt their plans to stage "a hero's welcome" for the Shuswap man.

John Hill, also known as Splitting the Sky, told Raven's Eye that the Ts'peten Defenders, who have overseen the Free Wolverine Campaign, will continue to demand a public inquiry into the entire Gustafsen Lake debacle. Other groups, including the Assembly of First Nations and various labor groups in the province, have also called for an inquiry.

Ignace claimed during trial that the Gustafsen Lake defendants were upholding Aboriginal rights on unceded Aboriginal title land and that the RCMP, who exchanged fire with Ignace and the other demonstrators during the Gustafsen Lake siege, were the real law-breakers. That argument was rejected in the British Columbia courts.