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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Sandra Laville Environment correspondent

UN expert condemns UK crackdown on environmental protest

Police arrested dozens of Just Stop Oil protesters near Downing Street
Michel Forst said the prosecution of peaceful protesters and the use of the Public Order Act 2023 was criminalising peaceful demonstrations. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer

A severe crackdown on environmental protest in Britain with “draconian” new laws, excessive restrictions on courtroom evidence and the use of civil injunctions is having a chilling impact on fundamental freedoms, the United Nations special rapporteur has said.

As the world faces a triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, environmental protesters were acting for the “benefit of us all” and must be protected, Michel Forst, the UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders, said on Tuesday.

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