Climate protesters face lengthy prison terms in UK crackdown

Five individuals who organised climate protests in the United Kingdom were sentenced to four and five years in prison. The court deemed climate issues to be "political opinions and beliefs."

Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, and Cressida Gethin were imprisoned for four years on 18 July. The court found them guilty of organising protests on the M25 motorway in the United Kingdom. The fifth defendant, Roger Hallam, was sentenced to five years by a judge who ruled that the man "sat at the top level of the conspiracy."

In November 2022, 45 protesters from Just Stop Oil climbed onto gantries on the motorway, forcing the police to stop the traffic. The protesters wanted to disrupt traffic in southern England to draw attention to demands to move away from fossil fuels, whose usage exacerbates the climate crisis. The youngest sentenced activist, Cressida Gethin, is 22 years old. Roger Hallam, co-founder of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, is 58.

Prosecutors stated that 45 people closed the motorway for over 120 hours, affecting 700,000 drivers. Police actions cost £1.1 million, and the economic losses incurred by those stuck in the traffic jam were estimated at £765,000. Representing herself in court, Lancaster emphasised that the effects of climate change mean that we are at a "dangerous and critical point in human history." She added that "all other means of democratic persuasion have failed."

According to the portal euronews.com, Judge Christopher Hehir ruled that climate issues were "irrelevant and inadmissible as evidence," dismissing them as "political opinions and beliefs." The jury was instructed to disregard any evidence concerning the climate crisis and was prevented from considering whether it constituted a "justifiable excuse" under the law. This perspective is reminiscent of the film "Don't Look Up" from 2021. The film is, in fact, a metaphor for the attitude of many people towards the impending climate catastrophe.

Many organisations dealing with climate issues criticise the high sentences for activists. Michel Forst, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders, joined the chorus of voices condemning imprisonment for planning peaceful protests. Forst stated, "The long, multi-year sentences handed down to Just Stop Oil activists are unacceptable in a democracy."

On 19 July, public opinion in the United Kingdom was also surveyed on the activists' sentences. An online survey conducted for Social Change Lab, a non-profit organisation that researches protests and social movements, found that 61% of respondents agreed that the sentences handed down to the five protesters were "too harsh." Meanwhile, 12% of the respondents believed the sentences were too lenient.