Arizona Tribune - Climate activists appeal long UK jail terms for 'peaceful protest'

Two days of hearings are set at London's Court of Appeal as the 16 environmental activists, including some who threw tomato soup on a van Gogh painting, seek to win reduced or quashed sentences imposed for their campaign against global climate policies.

Meanwhile, two other activists accused of throwing orange paint powder on the megalithic standing stones at Stonehenge last year will appear on Wednesday at Salisbury Crown Court, in western England.

They face charges of destroying or damaging an ancient protected monument and intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance.

Much of the focus will be on the British capital, where some of the defendants will appeal a sentence handed down for throwing a tin of tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh's "Sunflowers" as it hung in a London gallery.

Five others were convicted of conspiracy to cause public nuisance when planning to blockade a motorway.

The group received prison terms of between 15 months and five years -- thought to be the longest sentences ever imposed for non-violent protest in the UK.

Environmental NGOs Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth have teamed up to join what they call "a critically important legal appeal over the right to protest".

"These sentences are much longer than any other peaceful protest-related defence in history," said Katie de Kauwe, Friends of the Earth lawyer.

"Until very recently, it was basically unheard of for peaceful protesters to be sent to jail at all."

- 'Crossing the line' -

On Thursday, a coalition of climate and pro-Palestinian organisations plans to mobilise hundreds of people to block the road outside the appeal court at noon (1200 GMT) in support of the activists.

Formed in 2022, Just Stop Oil has staged numerous climate-related demonstrations against British and global environmental policies.

On Tuesday, police arrested two of its activists for disrupting a London staging of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" starring Hollywood actor Sigourney Weaver.

Its stunts have drawn condemnation from politicians and police and sparked a backlash among some sections of the public.

In July, five of the 16 activists who have brought the appeal were left stunned after being sentenced to between four and five years in prison for planning to block the M25 motorway around London in a Zoom meeting.

They include Roger Hallam, 58, one of the co-founders of JSO and Extinction Rebellion, another direct action environmental protest group.

Four activists who took part in the M25 stunt were also jailed.

"The plain fact is that each of you some time ago has crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic," judge Christopher Hehir said when sentencing them.

- 'Dark day' -

The length of the prison terms caused shock and concern among NGOs and environmental campaigners.

The UN Special Rapporteur for Environmental Defenders, Michel Forst, called it "a dark day for peaceful environmental protest and indeed anyone concerned with the exercise of their fundamental freedoms" in Britain.

Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth said its outcome "could have far-reaching implications for the future of peaceful protest".

CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organisations and activists, has said civil freedoms are being "obstructed" in the UK.

The country's previous Conservative government adopted an increasingly hostile stance towards disruptive direct action to protest environmental policy.

Ministers passed a series of laws toughening punishments for such offences.

However, they have continued unabated.

"The maximum sentence for this public nuisance offense is 10 years," noted de Kauwe.

"People convicted of sexual assault or violent offence can go to prison for much less than that."

Environmental activists in the UK are now three times more likely to be arrested than in some 15 countries, including Peru, Germany and Uganda, according to a University of Bristol study published in December.

O.Gutierrez--AT