Sixteen jailed Just Stop Oil activists will appear in court this week in an appeal against their sentences, which were believed to be the harshest ever for peaceful protest in Britain. For damaging picture frames, obstructing the road, or just talking about obstructing the road, they have received punishments that we would normally reserve for serious crimes. People trying to draw attention to the government failure to confront the cause of the climate crisis were imprisoned for up to five years.
These sentences have been condemned as draconian by Amnesty International, as “a grave erosion of … freedoms” by Liberty, as “a profound injustice” by Global Witness, and as “not acceptable in a democracy” by a special rapporteur for the UN. They represent the terrifying decline of our nation, from a beacon of tolerance with a clear division between politics and policing, towards an oppressive state where that dividing line is becoming harder and harder to discern. Regardless of your politics and what you are standing for, the right of peaceful protest is a vital sign of a healthy democracy and an essential guardrail against authoritarian politicians and reckless companies.
