Police wrapped-up their search on Monday of a farm owned by convicted anti-industrial saboteur Wiebo Ludwig after seizing "a variety of items."
The RCMP declined to detail what was seized from Ludwig's Trick Creek property three and a half days after the 68-year-old eco-activist was arrested, then released the next day without charge, in connection with six bombings of EnCana oil and gas facilities in the Tomslake area near Dawson Creek.
"I would definitely not say we've got nothing to show for it," said Insp. Tim Shields in front of the Hythe, Alberta commune where Ludwig lives with 50 others. "We have gotten new evidence in the past few days."
Shields also said the RCMP was "in constant negotiations" with Crown prosecutors in B.C. Police had told Ludwig's lawyer, Paul Moreau, that his client would be charged with extortion of EnCana on Friday but, after what Ludwig said was 10 hours of interrogation, the eco-activist was released Saturday without charge.
"Generally when police arrest someone they lay a charge," said Moreau. "I'm not going to suggest they arrested him for the sole purpose of being able to hold him and interrogate him at length because to do so would be improper and illegal."
Shields was also pressed by media over whether differences between B.C. - where Crown prosecutors must approve charges - and Alberta - where police can approve charges - affected the Ludwig case. On Saturday, Shields said the Crown told the RCMP that the evidence they was not sufficient "to see a substantial likelihood of conviction."
"We have to work with the cards that are in front of us right now because the crime happened in B.C.," said Shields.
Shields also suggested it was not uncommon in major crime cases for arrests to be made before charges were approved but Moreau wondered why, in a case involving Ludwig and bombings of oil and gas facilities, Crown prosecutors weren't brought in before hand.
"You would think that knowing they'd be under a national-media microscope, they would maybe have gotten their ducks in a row and have gotten charge approval ahead of time," said Moreau. "Apparently not."
Media reports said the police searched Ludwig's farm for red and blue pens, writing paper, videos, computer parts and dynamite. Shields wouldn't comment specifically on what police found.
The end of the search of Wiebo Ludwig's farm comes as a source close to him detailed the relationship between the RCMP and the eco-activist.
Paul Joosse, a sociologist at the University of Alberta who studies radical environmental action and has visited Trickle Creek, said it was his understanding Ludwig was going to meet with "somebody named Insp. Paul Richards" the Friday Ludwig was arrested.
According to the B.C. RCMP website, there is an Insp. Paul Richards in charge of B.C.'s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, which is investigating the Tomslake case.
"This was not unusual," said Joosse. "He had had several meetings with people from INSET and the RCMP during the course of the 15-month investigation."
Joosse also said INSET approached Ludwig in the summer - the last bombing was on July 4 - to help them profile the bomber. Reports in the past said Ludwig approached INSET.
According to Joosse, Ludwig offered to go into the Tomslake community on behalf of the RCMP but police officials in Ottawa insisted he be accompanied in some way by officers.
"He wanted to go into the community and talk to whoever might be involved and try and address the breakdown in relationship between industry and community members in the Tomslake area," said Joosse. "But he didn't want INSET to shadow him as he did this."
The breakdown, said Joosse, prompted Ludwig to write an open letter appealing to the bomber to stop their campaign.
"He was figuring if I can't work with the RCMP on this goal of calming things down, then I'll write a leter to the local media," said Joosse. "Since then, he's had other meetings with INSET, that I do know, and so this meeting Friday wouldn't have seemed unusual at all."
Joosse wondered on Tuesday, in light of Friday's arrest, that "perhaps through the whole series of these meetings were being disingenuous about their true motive for talking to Wiebo Ludwig." He added that, according to reports, the police compared Ludwig to jailed anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela - while also suggesting they had DNA evidence linking the eco-activist to the Tomslake bombings.
"If they did have DNA evidence linking Ludwig to these lettesr, one would think that would be sufficient to lay a charge," said Joosse. "You have to question that. It also seems they were trying to use his sense of self-importance to some degree in the same way they did in the interrogation room Friday.
"Those are common interrogative strategies - both flatter and threaten the person you're trying to extract information from."
