![UK climate activists jailed over motorway protest plot](https://www.berlinertageblatt.de/media/shared/articles/c8/f1/70/UK-climate-activists-jailed-over-mo-711401.jpg)
-
Biden team, end in sight, keeps hope on Gaza truce despite setbacks
-
Sabalenka dedicates US Open to family 'who never gave up' on dream
-
Venezuela takes diplomatic jab at Brazil in spat over election
-
Multiple people shot along highway in US state of Kentucky
-
'Super proud' Sabalenka downs Pegula to win US Open thriller
-
In Papua New Guinea, Pope holds mass 'at the edge of the world'
-
Hewett stays positive for wheelchair tennis despite agonising defeat
-
Three things on US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka
-
Sabalenka downs Pegula to win US Open thriller
-
USA men land Paralympic basketball three-peat, Jiang takes 7th swim gold
-
USA slump to first home defeat against Canada in 67 years
-
Argentina hand Australia record 67-27 loss in Rugby Championship
-
England impress on Carsley bow, Germany, Dutch hit five
-
AFP photographer wins top prize for Gaza coverage
-
No Love for Packers for three weeks after ligament sprain: reports
-
Pedro Almodovar: chronicler of modern Spain crowned in Venice
-
Almodovar wins top Venice prize for end-of-life film
-
Trump sounds dark tone at rally, Harris 'ready' for debate
-
Wirtz and Musiala dazzle to kick-start new Germany era
-
Chinese teenager takes 7th gold of Paris Paralympics
-
England interim boss Carsley 'respects' divided opinions over anthem
-
Neuville moves to the front in the Acropolis Rally
-
Garfield, Pugh charm Toronto in new romance 'We Live in Time'
-
21 boys confirmed dead in Kenya school inferno
-
Over 100,000 protest in France against new prime minister
-
Golden 30 minutes takes China to swimming Paralympics swimming domination
-
Green leads Australia to T20 series sweep of Scotland
-
Nigeria, Cameroon win afer chaotic AFCON build-ups
-
Nicole Kidman: A-lister, cinematic chameleon, wins in Venice
-
'I had to prove myself', says Kolisi after win against All Blacks
-
Almodovar wins top prize at Venice film festival
-
Grealish savours England redemption after 'worst summer'
-
Carsley makes flying start as England interim boss in win over Ireland
-
Springboks close on Rugby Championship with storming win over All Blacks
-
Sri Lanka's De Silva and Kamindu Mendis defy England in third Test
-
Farrell's Racing lose on opening day of Top 14
-
Ireland and UK to 'reset' relations as Starmer visits Dublin
-
Dunbar takes second Vuelta stage as Roglic closes in on victory
-
Fritz eyes US Open glory to end 21 years of American hurt
-
Thousands protest in France against new prime minister
-
Death toll from Kenya school blaze rises to 21
-
Brazil's right rallies for 'freedom' after X suspended
-
Trump to hold rally in swing state, Harris preps for debate
-
Stone at the double as Sri Lanka collapse against England in third Test
-
French tennis player takes legal action over online abuse
-
Italy backs Kyiv's 'legitimate defence' as Zelensky presses allies
-
The Body Shop rescued from administration after deal
-
Martin roars to victory in San Marino sprint, extends MotoGP lead
-
Smoke and screams: The horror of Kenya's school dorm inferno
-
MotoGP leader Martin roars to victory in San Marino sprint
![UK climate activists jailed over motorway protest plot](https://www.berlinertageblatt.de/media/shared/articles/c8/f1/70/UK-climate-activists-jailed-over-mo-711401.jpg)
UK climate activists jailed over motorway protest plot
Five Just Stop Oil activists, including the climate group's founder, were given between four and five years in jail in the UK on Thursday for conspiring to plan protests that blocked a motorway.
Roger Hallam, the co-founder of JSO and Extinction Rebellion, was handed a five year sentence -- thought to be the longest such sentence handed in the UK for a non-violent protest.
The others, Daniel Shaw, 38, Louise Lancaster, 58, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, 35, and Cressida Gethin, 22, were sentenced to four years imprisonment each.
The activists were found guilty of conspiracy intentionally to cause a public nuisance last week after meeting on a Zoom call and agreeing to cause disruption to traffic by climbing onto the gantries over the M25 motorway.
The protests took place across four days in November 2022 with dozens climbing gantries over the motorway which encircles Greater London and is one of the country's busiest.
Sentencing them at Southwark Crown Court in south London, Judge Christopher Hehir said: "The plain fact is that each of you some time ago has crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic.
"You have appointed yourselves as sole arbiters of what should be done about climate change."
The climate campaign group, which wants the phasing out of all oil and gas use, said the sentences were "an obscene perversion of justice" given for "nothing more than attending a Zoom call".
- 'Appalled' -
At the start of the trial, Michel Forst, the UN Special Rapporteur for Environmental Defenders, issued a statement in response to complaints about the "persecution, penalisation and harassment" of Shaw.
In it, Forst warned that sentencing Shaw to more than two or more years could "violate" the UK's commitments under international law.
During the trial, Just Stop Oil, which has carried out a number of high-profile protests, claimed that the judge had ruled that climate issues were "irrelevant and inadmissible".
The group quoted David King, who was the government's chief scientific adviser between 2000 and 2007, as saying the sentences were "disgraceful".
The UN previously criticised the "severe" sentences handed to climate protesters, after two JSO activists were jailed for two and three years after scaling the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge over the River Thames at Dartford, east of London.
In a letter to the government, UN special rapporteur for climate change Ian Fry warned the sentences could stifle protest and were "significantly more severe than previous sentences imposed for this type of offending in the past".
F.Müller--BTB