Roger Hallam, a co-founder of Just Stop Oil, was given a five-year prison sentence for his part in organising a protest in which 45 activists climbed gantries on the M25, disrupting traffic for five days. Four of his co-defendants were sentenced to four years in prison because they had also taken part in the Zoom meeting in which the protest was organised.
The sentences are longer than the three-year term imposed on Just Stop Oil protesters who scaled the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge on the Dartford Crossing two years ago.
Is the law on protest getting harsher?
Tom Southerden, Amnesty International UK's law and human rights adviser, warned against "the ongoing crackdown against peaceful protest in this country, which violates all our human rights". The joint committee on human rights of the House of Commons and House of Lords raised concern in more moderate language that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 will "have a chilling effect on the right to protest in England and Wales".
Denne historien er fra July 20, 2024-utgaven av The Independent.
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Denne historien er fra July 20, 2024-utgaven av The Independent.
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