Four Just Stop Oil activists were sentenced to four years in prison, the British news agency PA reported. Roger Hallam, who also co-founded Extinction Rebellion, received five years in prison. According to the PA, these are likely to be the longest prison sentences ever handed down for a peaceful protest.
Activists disrupted traffic on the M25 London ring road for several days in November 2022. Dozens of people climbed onto sign gantries. A police officer was injured in an accident.
“Crossed the line to fanaticism”
“The fact is that each of you crossed the line from concerned activist to fanatic some time ago,” the judge at Southwark Crown Court in London ruled, according to PA. “You have appointed yourselves the sole arbiters of what should be done regarding climate change.”
The group Just Stop Oil criticized the decision as an “obscene perversion of justice.” Its supporters were sentenced to several years in prison, although they had done nothing more than take part in a video call. The group repeatedly protests in Great Britain for more climate protection.
