Extinction Rebellion Founder Jailed for Climate Protest

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Facts

• A UK court sentenced Extinction Rebellion founder Roger Hallam on Thursday to five years in prison. The court punished him for his conspiracy to obstruct traffic on the M25 motorway during the Just Stop Oil campaign over four days in November 2022.¹
• The Court also sentenced four other climate activists for their involvement in a conspiracy to cause gridlock and obstruct traffic. The Court characterized their actions as those of a 'fanatic' and sentenced Louise Lancaster, Daniel Shaw, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, and Cressida Gethin to four-year terms.²
• Over the course of four days in November 2022, 45 Just Stop Oil activists scaled gantries on the road, forcing police to suspend traffic. The action caused chaos on the M25, resulting in 50K hours of driver delay and affecting over 700K vehicles.³
• Prosecutors presented evidence that all five defendants were involved in conspiracy activities while planning the protests. A Sun newspaper reporter, posing as an activist, handed to the court a recording of a Zoom meeting in which the defendants planned the demonstration.⁴
• The sentences are believed to be the harshest ever issued in the UK for non-violent protest.⁵
• Just Stop Oil is known for its high-profile protest actions. Earlier this year the group covered Stonehenge in orange powder the day before Summer Solstice. Amnesty International UK has called the harsh sentences 'indefensible' and a human rights violation.⁶

Sources: ¹The Telegraph, ²ABC News, ³Sky News, ⁴Daily Mail, ⁵Guardian and ⁶Independent.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The Telegraph. Demonstrations are important in a democracy, but we should never forget that violence and disturbing others are illegal. The negative consequences of the traffic disruption were many and costly. Taking the law into one's own hands is unacceptable, even in the context of climate change. Sentencing these five eco-activists to long prison terms is harsh, but it's the right thing to do.
• Narrative B, as provided by Juststopoil. Sentencing these activists to multi-year prison sentences, is an obscene perversion of justice. This trial was a travesty of justice and an assault on free speech as the judge ruled that climate issues were irrelevant to the case. It's an outrage that the fossil fuel industry's power has corrupted courts. This is a dark day for climate activism and the right to peacefully protest.

Predictions