At last!
All defendants have been found guilty by unanimous verdicts in the trial of five
protesters at Southwark Crown Court this morning. They were accused of conspiring to cause public nuisance through their protest actions on the M25 in November 2022. In remarks at the end of the trial, Judge Christopher Hehir made his personal views very clear, congratulating the jury, and describing climate concern as "single issue fanaticism". Earlier in the trial he had ordered the arrest of supporters who sat quietly outside the court with banners proclaiming "Jurors deserve to hear the whole truth". Today he backed down and dropped that charge. Sentencing for the five will take place next Thursday 18th, and the judge has indicated he will be delivering 'very long' prison sentences. The trial was observed last week by Michel Forst, a UN Special Rapporteur deeply concerned over the persecution of climate protesters. The judge ruled out ANY defence in the trial, and repeatedly arrested defendants within the court for attempting to speak to the jury about the overwhelming evidence that humanity is facing an extreme existential crisis, and that civil disobedience is essential to achieve the changes required to mitigate.
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