Climate activists given suspended sentences of 18 months

This Monday, a court sentenced eight of the 11 activists from the Climáximo movement who participated in the blockade of Avenida Duarte Pacheco in Lisbon in December 2023 to one and a half years of probation for attacks on road safety.

Reading out the sentence handed down in the Lisbon Local Court of Misdemeanours in a trial in which the defendants were held responsible for the crimes of disobedience and attacks on road safety, the judge found that there was no evidence regarding the three elements that were hanging from the bridge over the avenue.

In relation to the remaining eight defendants, the court cited the existence of “overwhelming doubts” regarding the crime of disobedience, but convicted them of obstructing conversion, imposing suspended sentences of one and a half years, without allowing it to be replaced by a fine or community service.

“If the defendants have the right to demonstrate, then there is also the right to free movement. (…) In this case, the right to movement must take precedence over the right to demonstrate, since it infringes on other rights, such as the right to work,” said the judge, who also said that such actions “must be punished more severely by the courts in order to put an end to them.”

Judge Afonso Nunes commented on the behaviour of some of the defendants in the courtroom and said that “none of them expressed any regret” for their behaviour as they understood that they were fighting for a “noble cause”, but reminded that disrespect for the law is not a crime and is the best way to fight.

“There are other ways, this is completely unacceptable. I don’t understand why they do this. They may be convinced of the greatest good, but there is also a flip side to the coin. This behavior is not the best. Think about it,” he emphasized.

He also warned of the risks for the eight convicts from a possible repetition of similar protests in the next year and a half: “It is highly likely that they will have to serve the sentence they are sentenced to if they commit a crime during their sentence.”

The trial of the climate activists began on April 22, although it was postponed several times due to strikes by judicial staff.

The protest took place on the morning of December 14, 2023, and affected traffic on Avenida Engenheiro Duarte Pacheco, as traffic was blocked on all four roads towards Lisbon, near the Amoreiras shopping center, for about an hour and a half, until the Public Security Police detained the activists.

Activists sat on the pavement and hung from the bridge that runs over the avenue to protest government policies and companies that ignore their environmental impact.