Just after our last issue went to press, five members of the climate direct action group Just Stop Oil (JSO) received long prison sentences for attending an online meeting to discuss nonviolent disruptive protest. Their 2022 Zoom call had been recorded by a Sun reporter and passed to the police.
Greenpeace UK’s programme director Amy Cameron condemned the sentences, saying: ‘What sort of country locks people away for years for planning a peaceful demonstration, let alone for talking…
On 15 August, the new solicitor general, Sarah Sackman, told the court of appeal in London that she would not be pursuing a case of contempt of court against Trudi Warner.
In March 2023, the 69-year-old retired social worker and Insulate Britain climate campaigner had held up a sign outside Inner London Crown Court saying: ‘Jurors, you have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to your conscience.’
This April, the high court in London had thrown out an attempt by…
Since our last issue, Just Stop Oil has racked up five acquittals and seven convictions – and also claimed victory in their campaign to get the government to stop licensing all new oil, gas and coal projects. That is the policy of the new Labour government. Extinction Rebellion have a new prisoner, Amy Pritchard, as well as big plans for the end of August.
There seems to have been a large-scale pre-emptive police swoop, detaining 27 JSO activists on 28 June, as well as three high-…
If you were wondering how things went for Virginia Moffat and Chris Cole, raising funds to help pay their fines, costs and compensation after their Downing Street action in support of Rafah, supporters donated £765 towards the £1683.68 total for the married couple (see PN 2672).
There’s not been a fundraising appeal for the Solvay Three, who carried out a pro-Palestine rooftop occupation and were ordered…
It’s difficult to report on Palestine Action (PA), partly because they have carried out so many actions (at least 24 since our last issue), and partly because their website has suffered from sabotage.
The big victory the direct action group has claimed since our last issue is the closure of a Tamworth factory owned by Elbit Systems, the Israeli drone manufacturer.
On 28 March, PA said ‘the Israeli weapons maker was forced to sell due to increased security costs which cut their…
Most climate direct action recently seems to have been carried out by Just Stop Oil (JSO), and most of the court cases also involve them, including three acquittals and a professional suspension. Here is some of what’s been happening.
On 15 May, three JSO activists were convicted under the Section 7 of the new Public Order Act 2023, which bans interference with ‘key national infrastructure’, including roads.
Daniel Hall, Phoebe Plummer and Chiara Sarti had marched along a…
On 25 April, Chris Cole and Virginia Moffat went on trial at City of London magistrates court as a result of their action on 29 December at Downing Street protesting against the UK government for being ‘complicit with this slaughter’ in Gaza (PN 2670). They had poured red poster paint on the gates and made bloody handprints, and read the names of children killed by Israel and Hamas.
The two Christian peace activists were found guilty of criminal damage despite making legal as…
Owain Parry, Thomas Bell and Mark Redfern carried out a 14-hour rooftop occupation of the Solvay factory in Wrexham, Wales, in November 2021 (the action was co-ordinated by Palestine Action). They accused Solvay of manufacturing components for the Israeli military.
This was admitted by the company at the recent five-day trial of the Solvay Three at Caernarfon crown court. The firm said that it supplied components for Israeli F-35 fighter jets.
The three members of the Welsh…
Julian Assange has won another chance to appeal against extradition to the US on espionage charges, but he is not out of danger.
The high court in London gave Assange his legal victory on 20 May, after finding that the US government had not given strong enough guarantees or ‘assurances’ that Assange would not be mistreated.
Assange’s lawyers accepted one assurance, that he will not be subjected to the death penalty if convicted in the US.
However, the US government did…
On 25 April our trial for Criminal Damage took place following our arrest on 29 December at Downing Street to protest the UK government’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza. We had poured red poster paint on the gates, and made bloody handprints, held placards and read the names of children killed by Israel and Hamas.
The evening before our trial we held a gathering at the wonderful London Catholic Worker where we spoke about our…
A German court has sentenced US Catholic Worker Susan Crane, 78, to over seven months in prison. Susan refused to pay €2,500 in fines imposed for a series of actions at Büchel air force base, south-east of Cologne, where US nuclear bombs are stored.
The Nuclear Resister reports that the sentence was imposed on 18 January after Susan had appealed all the way to the European court of human rights (they refused her case on a technicality).
Susan has been ordered to report…
The high court in London saw two simultaneous unrelated protests in February.
Outside (20 – 21 February), people gathered in solidarity with Julian Assange as lawyers tried to get a further appeal for him.
Inside (21 February), Defend Our Juries organised a 100-person sit-down in the lobby or central hall of the court. There were three separate Citizens’ Juries, considering different questions, including: ‘Why not trust juries to hear the full story?’
Climate activists…
We only have room for some court reports this issue but there has been quite a bit of climate action in the last two months.
We will just mention the ‘Insure Our Future’ Global Week of Action against insurance companies, which saw more than 57 events in 31 countries from 26 February – 3 March, including a classical dance protest outside Lloyds of London on 26 February (see above).
The most high-profile case was Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg (21) being acquitted by…
Campaigning group Defend Our Juries (DOJ) is planning a mass sit-down in the high court in London on 21 February to challenge the government’s attempt to remove the defence of ‘consent’, used by Palestine Action activists recently to win acquittals (see previous page).
This follows actions outside more than 50 crown courts across England and Wales on 4 December: 500 activists held signs defending the right of juries to reach their own verdicts, independently of the instructions they…
There don’t seem to have been any Just Stop Oil (JSO), Extinction Rebellion or Insulate Britain arrests since PN last came out, in late November.
On 8 January, JSO began negotiations with the Metropolitan police over its ‘slow walking’ campaign of disrupting traffic in London.
JSO presented the Met with evidence that the government was guilty of the crime of ‘genocide by oblique intent’, by developing new oil and gas projects.
JSO offered to pause disruptive…
