B.C. activist, 78, gets 10 months in jail

A 78-year-old environmental activist and great-grandmother was given a 10-month prison sentence in B.C. Supreme Court Monday for criminal contempt of court.

Betty Krawczyk had been convicted of contempt after being arrested three times while taking part in last year's protests against highway construction through the Eagleridge Bluffs in West Vancouver.

She has spent 2½years in jail for previous contempt convictions stemming from anti-logging protests.

A dozensupporters staged a sit-in protestat the B.C. Supreme Court registry on Smythe Street in downtown Vancouver, and another 50 peopleprotested outside.

They said they wereangry about the sentence, and about the security measures that were put in place for Monday's proceedings.

Krawczyk was sentenced in the high-security courtroom built for the Air India trial.

Everyone entering the courtroom Monday was searched by sheriffs, causing delays that prevented some supporters from getting in in time to hear the judge pass sentence.

Krawczyk has been taken into custody.

A spokesman for the B.C. Supreme Court would not say why the security measures were put in place for the Krawczyk sentencing, but did say tight security is imposed in certain high-profile cases.