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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Damien Gayle, Helena Horton and Ben Quinn

‘Not acceptable in a democracy’: UN expert condemns lengthy Just Stop Oil sentences

Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, Cressida Gethin, Louise Lancaster and Daniel Shaw and Roger Hallam
L-R: Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, Cressida Gethin, Louise Lancaster and Daniel Shaw were given four-year sentences, while Roger Hallam (right) was sentenced to five years. Photograph: Just Stop Oil

The lengthy multi-year sentences handed to Just Stop Oil activists are “not acceptable in a democracy”, a UN special rapporteur has said, as the government faced growing pressure to reverse the previous administration’s “hardline anti-protest” approach.

Michel Forst, the UN special rapporteur for environmental defenders, joined a growing chorus of voices condemning the sentences handed down to the five defendants for planning non-violent protests on the M25.

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