Five environmental activists from Just Stop Oil were sentenced yesterday in the UK for ‘conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.’ Four of them were given 4-year prison terms, while Roger Hallam, co-founder of both Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, received a 5-year sentence.
The law on ‘conspiracy to cause a public nuisance’ was introduced by the previous UK government to ‘crackdown on disruptive protests,’ according to the BBC
According to the court, the individuals were caught on a video call planning to block traffic on the M52 motorway around London for four days, a plan they executed with 40 other protesters in November 2022. This action led to thousands of hours of delays and a collision involving two trucks.
This represents the harshest penalty ever imposed for peaceful protest in England. Previously, the maximum sentence was 3 years in prison, given to a Just Stop Oil member who had blocked traffic for 40 hours at a busy crossing east of London in October 2022. The group had also previously thrown orange paint at Stonehenge and tossed tomato soup at Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers.’ Stonehenge sustained no visible damage, and the painting was unharmed.
