1y ago

Five Just Stop Oil activists receive record sentences for planning to block M25

www.theguardian.com

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1y ago

Five Just Stop Oil activists receive record sentences for planning to block M25

www.theguardian.com /environment/article/2024/jul/18/five-just-stop-oil-supporters-jailed-over-protest-that-blocked-m25

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1y ago

Five Just Stop Oil activists receive record sentences for planning to block M25

www.theguardian.com /environment/article/2024/jul/18/five-just-stop-oil-supporters-jailed-over-protest-that-blocked-m25

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1y ago

Five Just Stop Oil activists receive record sentences for planning to block M25

www.theguardian.com /environment/article/2024/jul/18/five-just-stop-oil-supporters-jailed-over-protest-that-blocked-m25

38 comments

Those who make peaceful protests impossible make violent rebellion inevitable.
- Right? If it's years in prison either way, they're about to find out what real eco terrorism looks like when protestors are ready to go all in.
  
  I guess that's what they're aiming for, to turn the general public against protests (even more).
- Absolutely. From the end of the article:
  Separately on Thursday, three airports were granted high court injunctions against fossil fuel and environmental activists protesting at their sites. Leeds Bradford airport, London Luton airport and Newcastle international airport were given injunctions banning protesters from trespassing or causing a nuisance.
- Getting someone fired for missing work isn't helping your cause in ANY way.
  
  You want to protect workers? Shitting on people who try to protect the environment isn't it.
  Ban union busting, ban arbitrary firing, set up a worker protections.
  Do those things first. Then come complain.
  Grow some class consciousness.
I thought the title was going to be a little click-baity, but it wasn't. 5-year and 4-year for planning to disrupt traffic is horrible. As the article points out, the dissonance between this sentencing and the actual harm caused by large-scale polluters is insane.
- If the sentencing is gonna be that bad for something minor, maybe dramatically up the ante next time.
- Drunk drivers that crash and actually ended up disrupting traffic get lighter sentences than this.
  
  This is fucking spot on and honestly I'm disgusted thinking about it.
  So endangering the public, disrupting traffic, and potentially killing someone because you crashed your car while shitfaced is better than planning a protest I guess.
  Oh yeah I forgot...of course the crime of offending and defying the ultra wealthy oil barons is worse than potentially killing a not rich person. They own basically everything at this point.
Holy shit. 5 years for "conspiracy to cause public nuisance". Holy shit.
If you punish peaceful activism this hard you make violent activism more appealing. If you’re going to prison for years either way you might as well really fuck shit up
- Especially after the events that transpired last week. Politicians need to show the people that opposing them nonviolently IS viable. It's in their own best interest.
  Otherwise it's "fuck the rules, let them try", and based on history they WILL try.
Not allowed evidence, not allowed a defense, and the crime was a zoom call where they tried to recruit people to block a highway. 5 years in prison.
Holy shit, are you guys okay in the UK? Blink twice if you need help.
- Blinking? Straight to jail!
Insurrectionists doing less time than these hippies. Y’all are crushin’ it down there…
- M25 leads me to believe this is GB not the US
  
  It says UK a few sentences in.
In for a lamb, in for a sheep.
In for a peaceful protest, in for sabotage
Jesus that's a crazy sentence
The sentences are excessive and unjustifiable, but it wasn't just one zoom call that was taken into account - three of them including Hallam were already on suspended sentences and all of them were on bail at the time of the "offence." I do not think that any of them should be imprisoned but the full details are not being given in the reporting.
Sentencing remarks [pdf] https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/R-v-Hallam-and-others.pdf
- You know who's the first to suffer from the continued climate crisis? Poor people, working people.
  The people taking it seriously and demanding action are the ones serving the interests of poor and working people.
  If you want to help poor people in need, then advocate for strong labour laws and a robust welfare state. None of this regressive pearl clutching shite that doesn't help anyone except the ruling class.
  
  I'm sure that sounds great when you aren't stuck in traffic at your hourly job, while the middle class protests because they have the time and money. It doesn't work. You have the correct idea supporting them and advocating for change. But the execution is failing here. It does not progress your goals.
- When you consider the violence to property or to the economy over people, you lose any respect i could have for you. I argue against your definition of violence. And you are essentially relegating protest to only where it could not have any impact in the first place.
  
  I didn't know what to tell you. It doesn't work. You are hurting your cause because your sense of justice has seen it work in the past. There are more effective ways than pissing EVERYONE off. You need to be more pragmatic in your thinking.
- Who said anything about violence?
Kier Stalin

38 comments