LONDON — Climate protesters from the Just Stop Oil group have largely failed in a mass appeal against tough sentences, in a major judgment that will have repercussions for British law and activism.
The 16 activists, part of the anti-fossil fuels campaign group, were appealing against jail sentences in four cases.
Two of the appeals, including for two protesters who threw soup at Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” in a 2022 demonstration, were dismissed outright.
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Six other appellants succeeded in gaining minor reductions in their jail terms, including Just Stop Oil figurehead Roger Hallam. In her judgment at the Court of Appeal, Lord Chief Justice Sue Carr called their sentences “manifestly excessive.”
