Greek court acquits activists who hung banner at Acropolis in China protest

Right activists raise a Tibetan flag and a banner at the Acropolis in Athens in October last year in protest at China holding the Winter Olympics. Photograph: Yorgos Karahalis/AP

Activists who were accused of attempting to “pollute, damage and distort” the Acropolis after they hung a banner from the Athenian monument in protest against China’s policies in Tibet have been acquitted by a Greek court.

In a landmark decision described as a victory for human rights defenders globally, a three-member tribunal threw out the charge on Thursday. A public prosecutor had only minutes earlier pressed for a guilty verdict.