Dr. Mark Mealing, a director of the Doukhobor museum and a member of a committee investigating Doukhobor problems, said Mrs. [Astaforoff] was trying to tell the jury that the museum represented a gravestone for the Doukhobor culture, which she does not believe dead.

Elderly Doukhobor gets 10 years in Castlegar museum arson case

Friday, October 04, 1985

NELSON, B.C. -- Special to The Globe and Mail NELSON, B.C.

A Sons of Freedom Doukhobor woman was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison for a Sept. 8 arson that destroyed four Doukhobor museum buildings near Castlegar, B.C.

Mary Astaforoff, 72, was one of three Sons of Freedom women to have been conditionally released from prison in October, 1983, after conducting prolonged hunger strikes. She had been serving a three-year term for arson.

Mrs. Astaforoff did not present a defence at her trial yesterday, preferring to cast herself as a religious martyr, telling the jury the Doukhobors were "defending the truth of Christ." She accused the B.C. Government of trying to destroy the Doukhobor community and likened the museum to a memorial to a communal life being buried.

County Court Judge Raymond Cooper, losing his temper, told Mrs. Astaforoff to stop making political statements. "It's your business if you don't want the truth," she replied.

Dr. Mark Mealing, a director of the Doukhobor museum and a member of a committee investigating Doukhobor problems, said Mrs. Astaforoff was trying to tell the jury that the museum represented a gravestone for the Doukhobor culture, which she does not believe dead.

Before the trial, court authorities vacillated on whether Sons of Freedom would be allowed into the courthouse. A deputy sheriff initially informed sect members that the judge had ordered the eviction of all Freedomites known to have caused trouble.

He allowed Mrs. Astaforoff's sister, Lucy Hoodicoff, to stay.

Within half an hour, RCMP Constable Mike Hiller ordered all sons of Freedom, including Mrs. Hoodicoff, to leave. Shortly afterward, they were all allowed back into the court.

There were no courtroom incidents during the trial, but during the preliminary hearing on Sept. 24 in Castlegar, a member of the Sons of Freedom stripped and threw her burning slip onto a courtroom table.

RCMP at Castlegar said they have charged Pauline Berikoff with arson, but as she stood stripped in a protest outside the Nelson courthouse yesterday, she said she has heard nothing of the charge except through the news media.

Dr. Mealing said three of the four attempts to burn the museum in recent years have occurred during periods of high public visibility. Arson attempts were made during the visit of External Affairs Minister Joe Clark, during a visit by provincial and federal officials and when the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and an international film production crew were about to visit the museum.