Six environmental activists who disrupted the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone in England last year were sentenced on Friday to suspended prison or community service by a court in Northampton.
KEYSTONE
The six members of the ‘Just Stop Oil’ group – four men and two women – were convicted last month and are awaiting sentencing.
Three of them were sentenced to between six months and a year in prison suspended and the other three to 12 months of community service, announced the judge in rendering his decision.
Their action “was not trespassing, obstruction of a highway or criminal damage. To put it colloquially, it was of a completely different category,” explained the judge.
“I accept (to admit) that all of your motivation was not to cause harm but rather to express your concern regarding climate change,” he added.
After an accident
On July 3, 2022, while the British Grand Prix race was neutralized following a serious accident, several people had “attempted”, according to the International Automobile Federation, to enter the track.
The operation had been claimed by “Just Stop Oil”, which has been multiplying for months the actions punch in the United Kingdom to demand the cessation of the exploration of fossil fuels in this country.
The six defendants had each pleaded not guilty to the public nuisance charges that had been brought once morest them but were found guilty last month following a two-and-a-half-week trial.
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