LETTER FROM LONDON

The court decision was handed down on July 18, 2024, a few days after Labour's resounding victory in the British general election, just as journalists were packing their bags for the summer break.

Five activists from the environmental NGO Just Stop Oil were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for taking part in a Zoom meeting preparing an operation to block the M25 motorway (which runs around Greater London) in November 2022. Roger Hallam, the 58-year-old co-founder of the Extinction Rebellion (XR) movement, was sentenced to five years in prison. Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu and Cressida Gethin were also found guilty of conspiracy to cause public disorder and each sentenced to four years' imprisonment.

These convictions are unprecedented in the United Kingdom (and elsewhere in Europe) for non-violent protesters. "Today is a dark day for peaceful environmental protest. This sentence should shock the conscience of any member of the public. It should also put all of us on high alert on the state of civic rights and freedoms in the United Kingdom," declared Michel Forst, UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders, on July 18, 2024.

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