Taloyoak men acquitted in controversial narwhal hunt

Three men accused of poaching narwhal in Taloyoak were acquitted last week, after a Nunavut court judge ruled that there wasn’t any evidence to prove they had broken the law.

Three years ago, Saul Kooktook, Kokiak Peetooloot and David Tucktoo were charged under federal marine mammals regulations, allegedly in possession of narwhal tusks without the necessary tags.

Justice Robert Kilpatrick recently threw out all the Crown’s evidence, including narwhal tusks and written confessions from the accused, at a summer voir dire hearing. At the time, Kilpatrick criticized the federal fisheries officers for abusing their position and violating the hunters’ charter rights in order to get the evidence.

At a hearing on Oct. 7 in Taloyoak, Justice Robert Kilpatrick acquitted the men, saying there was no evidence to justify a trial.