Unlock the publisher's digest free
Roula Khalaf, editor -in -chief of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Six climatic demonstrators, including one of the founders of Just Stop Oil, reduced their prison terms after the Court of Appeal said that their right to freedom of expression should have been taken into consideration.
An attraction of rare mass in January, involving 16 members of the climate protest group has just stopped oil, argued that their 41 -year -old prison conditions were excessive and raped international human rights.
The 16 sentences, which concerned four separate cases, were transmitted between July and September of last year.
Roger Hallam, 58, founder of extinction Rebellion and Jso, reduced his five -year prison sentence to four for having participated in a zoom call to plan a protest on the M25 motorway which brought the ring road to London at the arrest for four days.
In her decision, Lady Judan Carr said Hallam's initial sentence was “manifestly excessive”. She added that “attention must be given to conscientious motivation and articles 10 and 11” of the European Convention on Human Rights to protect the freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association.
His co-accused, Cressida Gethin and Lucia Whittaker from Abreu, reduced their sorrows from four years to 30 months, while Louise Lancaster and Daniel Shaw were reduced from four to three years.
The Court of Appeal reduced the condemnation of Gais Delap, which had been imprisoned in a separate case to climb on M25 gantry, from 20 months to 18 months.
The calls of 10 other demonstrators were rejected, in particular Phoebe Plummer who threw soup on the painting of Sunflower by Vincent Van Gogh.
Thirty supporters organized a silent demonstration in court while these calls were rejected, holding their backs on the judge carrying white t-shirts which said “corruption in court”.
Apart from the court, a new peaceful demonstration took place, with Amy Pritchard, who was imprisoned last year for having cracked a window at the office of JPMorgan Chase in London as part of a climate demonstration, reading a 13 appellants' declaration of 13.
“We can never give up. The assault sponsored by the State on our living planet does not give us the choice, ”she said on their behalf.
Raj Chada, head of criminal defense at Hodge Jones & Allen, who represented the demonstrators, said that the small reduction in Hallam's prison sentence “recognizes the extraordinarily excessive penalties which continue to be granted to demonstrators in England”.
But he added that it was “extremely disappointing” that many other penalties were confirmed and said that an appeal to the Supreme Court was under study.
“No country in Europe gives such draconian sentences for peaceful demonstrations, proving that we are out of money with the rest of the civilized world,” he said.
Although the United Kingdom has not traditionally imprisoned non-violent environmental activists, this has changed in recent years as climate protests have widened and are increasingly disturbing.
The previous government has attempted to repress demonstrations thanks to the introduction of new laws, including the police of the police, crime, conviction and the courts and the law on public order of 2023.
