Change.org Petition: Indigenous sisters wrongfully convicted - Free Odelia & Nerissa Quewezance - A Nation Wide Plea

Indigenous women now make up half the female population in Canada’s federal prisons. Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance are two of those women. The sisters from Keeseekoose First Nation have spent 30 years wrongfully imprisoned for a murder they didn’t commit and someone else confessed to. Justice Minister David Lametti is the only person with the power to give the sisters their freedom, and this petition is demanding he take immediate action to free the sisters. You can help in this critical moment by signing the petition now. Wrongfully Convicted: Free Odelia & Nerissa Quewezance - A Nation Wide Plea 30,805 have signed N.A. PORTER & ASSOCIATES’s petition. Let’s get to 35,000!

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Français Odelia & Nerissa Quewezance are indigenous sisters from Saulteaux in Western Canada. They are currently fighting for their freedom after being wrongfully convicted for murder. To date, they have spent close to thirty years in prison for a crime they did not commit. Odelia was convicted of second-degree murder in 1994 for her part in the killing of a Kamsack, Saskatchewan area farmer. Her sister Nerissa was also convicted and sentenced at that time. Both indigenous women maintain their innocence despite receiving life sentences. Their cousin, Jason Keshane (a young offender at the time of the crime), admitted to the murder (during the original trial and years later, on national television: APTN Investigates). As a young offender, Keshane only spent 4 years in custody. Instead of his confession exonerating them, both indigenous sisters were convicted and sentenced to prison without the possibility of parole for at least 10 years. Neither client has ever pled guilty. Innocence Canada is currently representing both Odelia and Nerissa. Transcripts indicated zero physical evidence tying them to the murder that someone else confessed to. So why are these sisters still incarcerated? High-profile advocates, including the Vice-Chief, Kim Beaudin, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, are formally petitioning the Canadian government (Justice Minister and Prime Minister) to immediately intervene and release these sisters. The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples is formally co-sponsoring this petition. Other advocates include Mr. David Milgaard, who spent 23 years in prison before being exonerated by DNA evidence in 1997 of raping and murdering Saskatoon nurse Gail Miller in 1969.  These indigenous sisters have been locked up for almost 30 years and the person responsible for the murder they were convicted of, confessed on national television. In addition to a lack of evidence, we need to acknowledge Keshane’s confession. We are calling on the Canadian government to release these two women immediately. We have a responsibility as Canadian citizens, to acknowledge the harm done to these indigenous women, and to rectify this miscarriage of justice. Please help us petition for an immediate remedy. They have already served a disproportionately long sentence for a crime that someone else confessed to. JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED!   For more background on this case, please watch our previous online event, with several high-profile advocates in attendance: https://www.facebook.com/naporterandassociates/videos/428616188378027/

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