Hundreds of protesters have blocked the road outside the high court in London, where the appeals of 16 jailed climate activists are being heard, in condemnation of “the corruption of democracy and the rule of law”.
As England’s most senior judge heard arguments in the appeal of the sentences of the Just Stop Oil activists, who are serving a combined 41 years in jail, their supporters sat on the road in silence holding placards proclaiming them “political prisoners”.
Tim Crosland, of the campaign group Defend Our Juries, who had organised the protest, said 1,000 had signed up to take part in the days leading up to Thursday, but a visual assessment suggested numbers were even higher.
“This is hundreds of people turning out to send a message to this court that silencing and jailing people trying to get good information to the public is not OK,” Crosland said. “That is the corruption of democracy and the rule of law. It’s not upholding a rule of law.
“What those people have been jailed for is trying to get information to the public that the fossil fuel companies have been systematically concealing from the public for decades and decades. And good information is the lifeblood of democracy and that’s why those people have been jailed, for trying to get that to the public.”
Protesters held placards showing photographs of jailed activists, including those whose cases were being heard in court on Thursday, as well as photographs of famous political prisoners such as Angela Davis and Nelson Mandela who had, said Crosland, “fought for the freedoms that we enjoy”.
The broadcasters Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Chris Packham were among those who joined the protest. “We feel our basic democratic rights to protest peacefully are being eroded,” Fearnley-Whittingstall said.
“We are here in solidarity with the 16 defendants who were given draconian sentences last year for entirely peaceful protest, that they did because their consciences demanded it from them, not for personal gain. Now we seem to have a judicial situation where acting on your conscience is almost seen to be an aggravating factor in your sentence – it used to be a mitigating factor.”
Soon after protesters occupied the Strand they were surrounded by yellow-jacketed police officers, who warned them that if they did not move, a section 14 order would be imposed and they would be arrested. However, police delayed imposing the order, with the protest thought to be planned to end at 1.45pm. The Metropolitan police did not respond to a request for comment.
Inside court four of the Royal Courts of Justice, Jocelyn Ledward KC led the crown’s response to the appeals. Last year Ledward led the prosecution of five activists who received the longest-ever sentences for peaceful protest, for a conspiracy to block the M25.
Roger Hallam, the co-founder of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, was sentenced to five years for his part in the conspiracy, while his four co-defendants received four years each.
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“The sentences were neither wrong in law nor manifestly excessive,” Ledward told the panel of judges led by Lady Chief Justice Carr.
Fiona Robertson, another lawyer from the crown’s team, added: “These five defendants were the pinnacle of the organisation of what was intended to be the greatest disruption in British history.”
In court filings, the crown’s lawyers disputed the appellants’ claim that judges erred by failing to discount their sentences because of their conscientious motivation, insisting that such a consideration was “conditional on the protesters exercising moderation in the harm they cause”.
Citing Carr’s previous refusal to quash the sentences of Morgan Trowland and Marcus Decker, the lawyers said: “The repeated use of the word ‘may’ demonstrates it is a discretion, not an obligation, to temper the sentence imposed to reflect a conscientious motive.”
The ruling is expected in one to six weeks.
Source: theguardian.com
