UK environmental activists appeal against prison sentences they say are unduly harsh
UK environmental activists appeal against prison sentences they say are unduly harsh
Climate activisits wear scold’s bridles to highlight the silencing of those fighting for climate justice, outside The Royal Courts of Justice in London, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Climate activisits wear scold’s bridles to highlight the silencing of those fighting for climate justice, outside The Royal Courts of Justice in London, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Climate activisits wear scold’s bridles to highlight the silencing of those fighting for climate justice, outside The Royal Courts of Justice in London, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Climate activisits wear scold’s bridles to highlight the silencing of those fighting for climate justice, outside The Royal Courts of Justice in London, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Climate activisits wear scold’s bridles to highlight the silencing of those fighting for climate justice, outside The Royal Courts of Justice in London, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Climate activisits wear scold’s bridles to highlight the silencing of those fighting for climate justice, outside The Royal Courts of Justice in London, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Climate activisits wear scold’s bridles to highlight the silencing of those fighting for climate justice, outside The Royal Courts of Justice in London, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Climate activisits wear scold’s bridles to highlight the silencing of those fighting for climate justice, outside The Royal Courts of Justice in London, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Climate activisits wear scold’s bridles to highlight the silencing of those fighting for climate justice, outside The Royal Courts of Justice in London, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
LONDON (AP) — Sixteen environmental activists who were jailed for actions including stopping traffic, blocking an oil facility and splashing a van Gogh painting with soup went to a London court Wednesday to challenge their sentences.
The Just Stop Oil protesters say they received unduly harsh prison terms –- between 15 months and five years –- for disruptive but peaceful actions.
The group argues that the jailed protesters are “political prisoners” who were “acting in self-defense and to protect our families and communities.”
Danny Friedman, a lawyer for the claimants, said that if the sentences were allowed to stand, it would mark a “paradigm shift” in criminal law sentencing for peaceful protests on matters of conscience.
“What these applicants did by way of collective, non-violent protest, whether one likes it or not, was for the interests of the public, of the planet, and of future generations,” he said. “They did what they did out of sacrifice.”
Five of the claimants were jailed for November 2022 demonstrations that saw protesters climb gantries above a busy highway. The others were sentenced for digging and occupying tunnels under the road leading to an oil terminal in southeast England and throwing soup onto the protective glass over van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” at London’s National Gallery.
The Conservative government that lost power in July 2024 toughened anti-protest laws in response to eco-activists who blocked roads and bridges, glued themselves to trains, splattered artworks with paint, sprayed buildings with fake blood and doused athletes in orange powder to draw attention to climate change.
The government said the laws prevented extremist activists from hurting the economy and disrupting daily life.
Civil liberties groups have urged the center-left Labour Party government, elected in July, to ease the restrictions on protest imposed by its predecessor.
Friends of the Earth, which is backing several of the claimants, said the sentences posed a “serious threat to our democracy.”
“Silencing those striving for a better world will not make these escalating crises disappear – doing so only serves to stifle our democracy,” the group’s senior lawyer Katie de Kauwe said.
The Court of Appeal hearing is scheduled to last two days, with the three judges likely to hand down their ruling several days or weeks later.
Separately Wednesday, London’s Metropolitan Police said two Just Stop Oil protesters have been charged with “aggravated trespass” for allegedly disrupting a performance of William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” at Theatre Royal in Drury Lane the previous evening.
The production stars Sigourney Weaver, 75, as Prospero, in what is her West End debut. The “Alien” star was escorted off stage before the protesters were ushered away.
Soon after the incident, Just Stop Oil posted footage on social media saying two of its supporters had taken to the stage to protest the world’s lack of action against climate change.
London police said Richard Weir, 60, and Hayley Walsh, 42, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Feb. 25.
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Pan Pylas contributed to this report.
