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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Damien Gayle

Climate activists ‘did what they did out of sacrifice’, appeal court told

Three men hold a placard with the words: 'Democracy needs protest'
Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion's co-founder Roger Hallam (middle) flanked by two climate protesters. He was sentenced to five years in jail. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA

The philosophies of Hannah Arendt and Henry David Thoreau were aired in the court of appeal on Wednesday as 16 climate activists sought to convince England’s most-senior judge to quash their long sentences for disruptive acts of civil disobedience.

The appellants, prosecuted in four separate trials last year, appeared at a mass appeal in London before a panel led by Lady Justice Carr, the Lady Chief Justice, where they argued judges defied decades of precedent by ignoring their conscientious motives.

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