Two indigenous sisters who spent the last 30 years in prison claiming they were wrongfully convicted are back in court for a two-day bail hearing.. Quewezance Sisters .A judge overturned the media ban which allowed journalists to cover the bail hearing in Yorkton, SK..In 1994, Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance were convicted of second-degree murder for killing farmer Anthony Joseph Dolff, 70, near Kamsack, SK..The sisters' lawyers asked for a conditional release while the case goes for a federal conviction review..The review began in 2022 by the federal Justice department which ruled there is a “reasonable basis to conclude there was a miscarriage of justice.”.Odelia and Nerissa maintained their innocence and a youth confessed to the murder. However, the sisters were present for the murder, but claim they did not take part..Odelia had a brief release from prison when she went to Ottawa in 2022 to “ask for justice.”.“Thirty years is a long time. That’s cruel and unusual punishment,” Odelia told reporters..READ MORE Sisters reunite after 18 years, claiming a wrongful murder conviction.Odelia was 20 years old and Nerissa was 18 when they were arrested for the stabbing death of Dolff in 1993..Three years after being convicted, the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear their appeal..James Lockyer, the sisters' lawyer, said the pair admit to being there when Dolff was murdered. But the youth who admitted killing Dolff testified the sisters did not participate in the killing..“The two sisters, they need their lives back,” said Lockyer..Last year, Odelia was granted day parole with strict conditions. Nerissa’s parole was denied, and she is at the Fraser Valley Institution for Women in British Columbia..“Odelia and Nerissa are the victims of a justice system plagued by racism and prejudice,” said Congress of Aboriginal Peoples National Chief Elmer St. Pierre in a news release..“The Saskatchewan government has spent 30 years repeatedly denying the sisters justice, so now they must be granted bail immediately.”.When the conviction review process is finished the federal justice minister will receive a report and legal advice. At that time, the minister can order a new trial, an appeal, or dismiss the review if he feels that no miscarriage of justice took place.
