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Five climate activists dubbed the “Whole Truth Five” have lodged an appeal against their “record-breaking” prison sentences for climate activism.
Just Stop Oil protesters Cressie Gethin, Roger Hallam, Lou Lancaster, Daniel Shaw and Lucia Whittaker De Abreu were convicted in July for plotting action that caused major disruption to traffic, with protesters climbing onto gantries over the motorway for four successive days in November 2022, as PA reported.
Hallam, who is the co-founder of environmental campaign groups Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, was given five years in prison, while the other four were each jailed for four years.
Southwark Crown Court found the activists guilty on July 11th of “conspiring to intentionally cause a public nuisance.”
The prosecution successfully argued the direct cost of the M25 disruption was at least £765,000, with additional costs of over £1.1 million for the Metropolitan Police.
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They also argued it caused more than 50,000 hours of traffic delays, affecting over 700,000 vehicles, and 120 hours of total disruption on the motorway.
The trial stemmed from a Zoom call recorded by Scarlett Howes, a reporter for The Sun, who joined the call, pretending to be somebody interested in participating in the protests.
The judge remarked: “She was able to record the main part of the meeting – she left at the point where participants went into “breakout rooms”, and what she had recorded was passed to the police.
“It was clear at trial that none of you think very much of The Sun newspaper, or of its proprietor. I make no comment about that, but what I do say is that Ms Howes and her newspaper did entirely the right thing by passing on the evidence she had gathered to the police. Had that not been done, I consider it likely that the disruption would have been even greater than it was.”
The Zoom call (and resulting action) put them in breach of the recent anti-protest law passed under the Conservatives, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, as well as the long-standing Criminal Law Act 1977.
But the Fives’ long prison sentences were met with widespread national and international anger, which are seen by many as disproportionate.
Chris Packham Slams ‘Sickening’ Media and Met Police Over Just Stop Oil Case – And Urges Government to Repeal Law Before Protests ‘Escalate’
‘The lack of perspective that’s generated by the mainstream press and the lack of reasonable accounting for mainstream news media this week has been simply appalling’
Amongst other grounds for appeal, lawyers for the Whole Truth Five argue that:
- The sentences were “manifestly excessive”
- The judge failed to take account of the legal obligation of the UK, under the international Aarhus Convention, not to persecute “’environmental defenders”
- Lawyers are the judge appears to have “punished” the defendants for disobeying his orders not to explain their motivations for taking action (this is reportedly denied by the judge)
The activists were sentenced following a trial in which they claim they were “gagged” from presenting evidence about the urgency of the climate crisis and the efficacy of direct action.
They argue Professor McGuire, an Emeritus Professor of Geophysical & Climate Hazards at University College London, was barred from providing expert testimony.
And the sentences, ranging from four to five years, drew sharp comparisons to those given for violent offences in the recent racist riots.
Those convicted for their part in the past month’s violent racist riots have generally received sentences between two months and three years, significantly less than the climate activists.
Following the sentencing, UN Special Rapporteur Michel Forst issued a public statement questioning the legitimacy of the sentences.
And over 2,000 academics and cultural figures, including former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and artist Tracy Emin, penned an open letter decrying the sentences as “insanity.”
Meanwhile, the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, of which Keir Starmer was previously Secretary, passed a motion condemning the sentences as “completely disproportionate.”
Sir David King, the government’s former Chief Scientific Adviser, dubbed the sentencing “disgraceful” and expressed hope that the new Labour Government would adopt a different approach to criminalising climate protesters.
Just Stop Oil Protestors Receive Harshest Jail Terms Yet in Case that ‘May Violate Human Rights Law’
The trial and sentencing of the protesters has been described as a “low point in British justice” and an “assault on free speech”
Global citizens movement Avaaz has also launched a petition to PM Keir Starmer, which has already gathered more than 20,000 signatures, calling for an end to the “gagging and jailing of peaceful climate protesters” and demanding the repeal of “repressive” anti-protest legislation.
And legal commentator David Allen Green has pointed out the stark contrast between the disruption caused by the climate activists and the recent race riots, noting that the latter caused far greater public nuisance and fear.
Since the “Whole Truth Five” were sentenced on July 18, numerous other Just Stop Oil members have also been remanded to prison for various actions, including protests at Heathrow and Manchester airports.
Campaign groups are reportedly planning a new wave of action, calling for the release of all “political prisoners” held in UK jails.
A spokesperson for the Defend Our Juries campaign slammed the justice system’s approach, arguing that both the race riots and the imprisonment of climate activists stem from attempts to “distract from the existential crises we face by demonising easy targets.”
Just Stop Oil maintains that direct action is effective, citing the UK Parliament’s declaration of a climate emergency following Extinction Rebellion’s 2019 protests, and Keir Starmer’s commitment to ending new oil and gas licenses after Just Stop Oil’s M25 disruptions.
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