Chris Packham has called a meeting with the Attorney General for England and Wales, joining a chorus of prominent voices condemning the lengthy prison sentences for Just Stop Oil protesters.
Talk after Five activists were sentenced up to five years for planning protests on the M25, the presenter and naturalist said: “Let me be clear, let me be very, very clear, this is not just about climate activism.
“The laws that have been written, the injustices that are being committed, threaten all rights to freedom of expression. We are here today because our future security could be compromised by the reckless and irresponsible erosion of our human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
Packham called for a recorded meeting with the new attorney general, Richard Hermer KC, “as quickly as possible” to “remedy this grotesque miscarriage of justice”.
Packham appeared with TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, eco-entrepreneur Dale Vince, Labour MP Clive Lewis and Green peer Jenny Jones outside Southwark Crown Court, where crowds gathered after the sentencing.
Fearnley-Whittingstall said the campaigners, Roger Hallam, Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu and Cressida Gethin, had been “cruelly convicted under extremely pernicious legislation which simply should not be in place.
“It is becoming increasingly clear to all of us that these laws were put in place to protect fossil fuel companies and to protect a version of the status quo that continues to harm the climate and harm us all.
“But we must be clear that these laws also deny every British citizen their right to peaceful protest.”
Packham’s call to meet the new attorney general was backed by Vince, who last year moved from finance Just stop oil to become one of the Labour Party’s biggest donors.
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After the verdict, Vince released a statement saying: “I believe climate change denial should be illegal, but it is illegal to speak about the climate crisis in court. Today, five peaceful protesters face years in prison because of this perverse decision. This is a travesty of justice and that is why I join the calls for the new attorney general to intervene.”
Lewis backed calls for action by Hermer, who was made a peer on Thursday so he can serve in government.
“It is urgent that this happens,” Lewis said. “I will be raising this issue in Parliament, as I am sure many others will. I also believe that the laws that allowed this to happen should be repealed and consigned to the dustbin of history.”
“And I will encourage a Work The government must do everything it can to stop the oil extraction, to stop this exploitation and to ensure that these five people are released as soon as possible.
Bill McGuire, emeritus professor of geophysics and climate risk at University College London, whose expert testimony could not be heard in court, called the trial and verdict a “farce”.
“These decisions mark a low point in British justice and are an attack on freedom of expression,” he said. “The judge’s characterisation of climate change as a matter of opinion and belief is completely absurd and demonstrates extraordinary ignorance.
“Similarly, to suggest that the climate emergency has nothing to do with whether the defendants had reasonable grounds to act is gross stupidity.”