“I acknowledge that at least some of the concerns are shared by many, but the plain fact is that each of you has some time ago crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic.”

Don't you get it? There's no more fucking time to fuck around. Earth will be uninhabitable for humans if we continue the course.

The sentences are 5 years in one case and 4 in the others.

Passing sentence on each of the defendants at Southwark crown court, the judge Christopher Hehir said: “The offending of all five of you is very serious indeed and lengthy custodial sentences must follow.”

Hehir admitted there was a scientific and social consensus that human-made climate breakdown was happening and action should be taken to avert it. “I acknowledge that at least some of the concerns motivating you are, at least to some extent, shared by many,” he said.

“But the plain fact is that each of you has some time ago crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic. You have appointed yourselves as the sole arbiters of what should be done about climate change, bound neither by the principles of democracy nor the rule of law.

“And your fanaticism makes you entirely heedless of the rights of your fellow citizens. You have taken it upon yourselves to decide that your fellow citizens must suffer disruption and harm, and how much disruption and harm they must suffer, simply so that you may parade your views.”

Fuck everything about this judge.

How are they harming their fellow citizens? They planned a peaceful protest. Maybe someone else can find where they caused an issue bc I can't.

Wait, for planning? Is this pre-crime?

You should not get a prison sentence for "planning" something unless it's terrorism or another act of extreme violence. I.e. the guy who was just jailed for planning to kidnap, rape, and murder Holly Willoughby.

Arresting people for planning a nonviolent protest is authoritarian behaviour.

longest ever sentences for non-violent protest

For planning non-violent protest. They didn't even fucking commit "public nuisance."

A rightful punishment for us being mildly inconvenienced and billionaires losing a couple of dollars that day.

Just to be clear, you get a shorter sentence here for beating the absolute shit out of people. Rapists have been given less time. You could do the exact same thing but Vladimir you did it because god hates gay people or whatever and barely spend a day in prison.

They were given those sentences because these protests are working. So, the fossil fuel lobby's plan is to make the human cost of it not worth doing.

Yes, they really are that cartoonishly villainous.

News of the sentencing reached the public broadcaster here in Estonia, including Dale Vince's comment that "this resembles Russia or maybe North Korea" and Chris Packham's assessment that "this is a threat against freedom of speech".

I hope the judgement gets overturned on appeal, and the law that enabled the judgement gets scrapped or rewritten.

I also suspect that the next people who want to stop traffic will not choose peaceful assembly as their method, but will use far more dangerous methods - sabotage from distance, e.g. no more traffic lights on a big intersection. Needless to say, state will cry "terrorism" then, and that is not a desirable outcome, so I hope nobody feels compelled to prove the point.

In these difficult times this is awful and depressing news :(

Outrageous!

Does King Charles have pardon powers?

“I acknowledge that at least some of the concerns motivating you are, at least to some extent, shared by many,” he said.

“But the plain fact is that each of you has some time ago crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic. You have appointed yourselves as the sole arbiters of what should be done about climate change, bound neither by the principles of democracy nor the rule of law.

“And your fanaticism makes you entirely heedless of the rights of your fellow citizens. You have taken it upon yourselves to decide that your fellow citizens must suffer disruption and harm, and how much disruption and harm they must suffer, simply so that you may parade your views.”

How do appeals work in the UK?