Five Just Stop Oil activists have just been jailed for up to two years after they climbed gantries over the M25 motorway and caused temporary gridlock.
For many of the 181,000 motorists the Highways Agency estimated were delayed in November 2022 by the coordinated four-day-long campaign of disruption, it may feel like justice served.
But there has been international condemnation of the increasing severity of sentences for non-violent protest.
“There can be no justification for the level of sentences that are being imposed,” says Raj Chada, a solicitor at Hodge Jones & Allen who represented one of the activists – a 77-year-old woman.
“These are sentences which have traditionally been reserved for violent offences. And in the UK, we’ve always said that no matter what the protest, even if it is disruptive, you get credit for it being non-violent,” said Mr Chada.
The latest sentences, of between two years and 20 months, follow those in July of jail terms between four and five years for Just Stop Oil campaigners who planned and recruited volunteers for the M25 protest.
“Today marks a very dark day for fundamental human rights in the UK,” wrote Michel Forst, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders, who attended their trial at Southwark Crown Court.
Government under pressure
The last government, under pressure to combat coordinated environmental campaigns by the likes of Just Stop Oil, Insulate Britain, and Extinction Rebellion, passed laws increasing the maximum sentences available to judges in protest cases.
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But the changes, are “draconian,” according to Tim Lancaster, former husband of Louise Lancaster, who was jailed for four years for her role in planning the M25 shut-down.
“I was always brought up with the idea that we believed in freedom of speech, that we had a dialogue with people.
“What’s really clear is that these laws shut people down.”
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A detail of this week’s sentencing, according to Mr Chada, speaks to that concern.
A sixth M25 protestor sentenced at Basildon Crown Court, received a 24-month suspended sentence because the court heard he no longer wanted to be involved in Just Stop Oil.
“It should be no part of a court’s function to consider what the political views of the defendants are,” said Mr Chada.
Just Stop Oil is not a proscribed organisation, Mr Chada said.
“It seems to me that the courts are going too far and punishing people for just even supporting or associating with a lawful organisation,” he added.
‘Consequences for extreme activists’
Given the coordinated disruption caused by Just Stop Oil, which has continued with paint spraying and sit-ins at airports this week, the deterrent of harsh sentences for non-violent disruption is needed, according to an advisor to the previous government.
“These prison sentences, though they are somewhat of a surprise, and they are long, send the message that there are consequences for the behaviour of extreme activists,” said Lord Walney, who reviewed political violence and extremism for the Home Office in 2021.
Asked if it intended to review or replace the changes made to protest laws by the previous government, the Home Office said: “We recognise the democratic right that people must be free to peacefully express their views, but they should do so within the bounds of the law. Protest organisers should engage fully with the police.”
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However, it may not be able to ignore the issue. Lawyers representing some of the Just Stop Oil activists sentenced in both recent court cases said they would appeal the length of sentences.
The Court of Appeal has previously upheld judges decisions in protest cases, meaning the UK’s recent record on punishing environmental activists is likely to end up before the European Court of Human Rights.
